W4 


Columbia  (HnitJers^iti) 

intljeCitpofilrmgork 

THE  LIBRARIES 


i'li^ySrM' 


'^m^ 


•irj\ 


f^- 


^i#^ 


7 


A    STUDY 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY 


BY 


LEWIS   G.  JANES 


ndvra  SoKifid^eTE-  to  mUv  Karexere 


CHICAGO 

CHARLES  H.  KERR  &  COMPANY 
17s  Dbarborn  Street 

18S7 


t  1  i    >  J 


J  > 
>  1  J 


'  >  >     • 
■  >  I    >  > 


Copyright,  1884, 
By  Lewis  G.  Janbs. 


a 


^q u9^  ^ 


■••: 


•    •  •  * « 

•  *      ■ 


.......       •   ;     .        . 

•  •      •    •     •  ...  • . * 


..t...  •  ••         0." 


.  •     ••    •  • 

»       .      ,       .  .    • 

.  •   v«  •   .   • 


TO 

MY  PUPILS  AND  ASSOCIATES  IN  THE 
ADULT  CLASSES 

CONNECTED  WITH  THE 

SECOND  UNITARIAN  CHURCH, 
Brooklyn,  N.Y., 

In  remembrance  of 

the  pleasant  and  fruitful  hours  which  we  have 
spent  together  in  the  search  for  that 

IDEAL  TRUTH 

which  is  dearer  to  us  than  any  fauUy  expression  in 
the  symbols  of  an  imperfect  language, 

I   DEDICATE 

this  little  book. 
Jan.  19,  1886. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preface    5 

Preface  to  Second  Edition 7 

Introduction 9 

I.    Palestine  in  the  Roman  Period  13 
11.    Society  and  Religion  in  the  Ro- 
man Empire 39 

III.     Sources  of  Information  ....  69 
rV.    Theological  Aspects  of  the  Re- 
ligion OF  Jesus 98 

V.    Social  Aspects  of  the  Religion 

OF  Jesus 118 

VI.    Myth  and  Miracle  in  the  Gos- 
pel Stories 144 

VII.     The  Christianity  of  Paul  .     .     .  174 
VIII.    The    Church    in    the   Apostolic 

Age 204 

IX.     The  Martyr  Period 235 

X.    Christianity  the  State  Religion  266 

Bibliography 304 

Index 307 


PREFACE  TO  SECOND  EDITION. 


In  issuing  a  new  edition  of  these  lectures,  obe- 
dient to  the  continued  demand  of  the  public,  the 
author  desires  to  express  his  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments for  the  cordial  and  appreciative  greeting 
which  they  have  received  from  the  liberal  and 
secular  press,  for  the  kind  favors  of  commenda- 
tion and  friendly  criticism  from  private  individu- 
als, and  for  the  fair  and  candid  treatment  which 
has  generally  been  bestowed  upon  his  book  by 
reviewers  who  differ  widely  from  his  theological 
point  of  view. 

A  careful  reconsideration,  in  the  light  of  the 
published  criticisms,  suggests  but  little  modifica- 
tion of  the  judgments  and  conclusions  herein 
recorded.  Two  or  three  friendly  critics  have 
maintained  that  too  great  credence  has  been 
allowed  to  the  non-miraculous  part  of  Philostra- 
tus'  Life  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  in  the  chapter 
on  "Myth  and  Miracle"  (pp.  147-159).  While 
acknowledging  the  weight  of  some  of  these  dis- 
senting arguments,  and  admitting  that  the  esti- 
mation of  the  degree  of  historical  verity  justly 
assignable  to  the  work  of  Philostratus  is  a  ques- 
tion for  the  nicest  critical  judgment,  and  one, 
moreover,  on  which  the  ablest  scholars  are  not  in 
fuU  accord, —  the  author  is  impelled  to  adhere  in 


8  PREFACE    TO    SECOND    EDITION 

the  main  to  the  conclusions  previously  arrived  at, 
after  a  careful  study  of  both  sides  of  this  mooted 
question.  In  this  decision,  he  is  sustained  by  the 
judgments  of  such  unbiassed  modern  historians 
as  Ritter  —  who  sees  no  reason  to  doubt  the  hon- 
esty either  of  Philostratus  or  of  Damis,  the  contem- 
porary disciple  of  Apollonius  —  and  Lecky,  who  in 
several  instances  refers  to  the  narrative  of  Philos- 
tratus without  discrediting  its  non-miraculous  por- 
tions, as  well  as  by  the  general  consensus  of  those 
early  Christian  and  Pagan  writers  who  make 
mention  of  Apollonius.  It  must  be  admitted, 
however,  that  the  work  of  Philostratus  contains 
some  glaring  historical  inaccuracies ;  but,  in  our 
judgment,  these  do  not  justify  us  in  relegating  it 
in  its  entirety  to  the  domain  of  pure  fiction,  any 
more  than  similar  considerations  justify  a  like 
treatment  of  the  Christian  Gospels.  This  entire 
question,  however,  is  incidental  and  illustrative 
merely,  and  has  little  bearing  upon  the  main  pur- 
pose and  argument  of  the  book. 

A  recent  "  Critico-Historical  Sketch  of  the  Dru- 
ids," from  the  able  pen  of  William  Emmette  Cole- 
man, appears,  justly,  to  discredit  much  that  has 
been  generally  accepted  as  truth  concerning  them 
on  the  authority  of  Csesar,  Pliny,  and  other  classi- 
cal writers.  The  account  of  the  Druids  herein 
contained  (pp.  62,  63)  follows,  temperately,  the 
generally  received  authorities,  but  perhaps  requires 
some  further  modification. 

L.  G.   J. 
BSOOKLTS,  N.Y.,  Dec.  T,  1886. 


PREFACE. 


1  TAKE  great  pleasure  in  recommending  Dr. 
Janes's  Primitive  Christianity  to  the  community  at 
large.  One  of  the  most  satisfactory  aspects  of 
my  Brooklyn  pastorate  has  been  the  work  of  Dr. 
Janes  in  connection  with  an  adult  class  on  Sun- 
days, and  the  evening  class  to  which  he  refers  in 
his  introduction.  In  both  of  these  connections,  he 
has  shown  a  remarkable  faculty  for  laborious 
study  and  intelligent  and  persuasive  exposition. 
The  chapters  herewith  presented  were  originally 
prepared  for  lectures  to  the  evening  class.  They 
proved  themselves  entirely  equal  to  the  purpose 
for  which  they  were  designed,  conveying  definite 
information  and  inciting  vigorous  debate.  The 
origin  of  these  lectures,  in  the  exigencies  of  class 
instruction,  suggests  the  hope  that  they  will  be 
found  widely  useful  in  churches  and  elsewhere  for 
the  purposes  of  such  instruction.  Their  topical 
arrangement  will  be  a  great  advantage  to  the 
class  and  teacher  using  them. 

At  the  same  time,  they  are  deserving  of  a  more 
general  currency.     They  are  a  wonderfully  clear 


PREFACE 

and  strong  expression  of  the  best  results  of  the 
higher  criticism  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the 
origins  of  Christianity.  They  are  no  mere  com- 
pilation, but  the  outcome  of  an  independent 
mind  working  freely  upon  a  great  mass  of  mate- 
rials, to  which  few,  except  the  professional  scholar, 
can  give  the  attention  they  deserve.  If  I  am  not 
mistaken,  Dr.  Janes  has  brought  to  these  mate- 
rials a  singularly  just  and  patient  mind,  which  has 
saved  him  from  'the  falsehood  of  extremes,'  and 
enabled  him  'to  see  things  as  they  are.'  It  is, 
for  me,  an  admirable  feature  of  his  book  that  it 
does  not  apprehend  the  life  of  Jesus  and  the  early 
Christians  as  any  merely  historical  problem,  but 
demands  at  every  step  to  know  what  there  is  here 
to  help  us  in  the  storm  and  stress  of  our  own 
time's  Philosophy,  and  Ethics,  and  Sociology,  and 
Keligion.  If  the  various  questions  which  are  now 
so  serious  and  engrossing  can  be  met  in  such  a 
spirit  as  my  friend  has  shown  within  the  compass 
of  his  little  book,  that 

'  bridal-dawn  of  thunder-peals, 
■Which  all  the  past  of  time  reveals, 
Wherever  Thought  has  wedded  Fact,' 

will  not  be  long  delayed,  nor  anything  but  wel- 
come when  it  comes. 

John  W.  Chadwick. 

Beookltn,  N.Y.,  Dec.  26, 1885. 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  questions  involved  in  the  study  of  the  ori- 
gins of  Christianity  and  the  eariiest  phases  of  its 
development  are  ordinarily  supposed  to  lie  within 
the  exclusive  province  of  the  professional  theolo- 
gian. It  is  freely  intimated  that  a  layman  has  no 
business  to  meddle  with  them.  The  theologian, 
having  thus  monopolized  the  treatment  of  these 
important  subjects,  is  generally  careful  to  avoid 
any  such  discussion  of  them  as  may  tend  to  throw 
doubt  upon  the  currently  accepted  doctrines  of  the 
divine  origin  and  infallible  truth  of  the  Christian 

system. 

When,  by  chance,  a  Christian  minister,  having  a 
mind  unwarped  by  theological  bias  and  a  sub- 
limer  confidence  in  the  sacredness  of  truth  and  the 
method  of  free  discussion  than,  unhappily,  is  usual, 
dares  to  transgress  the  bounds  of  custom,  and 
gives  to  the  public  the  plain  facts  of  history  and 
the  results  of  the  critical  judgment  of  the  best 
and  most  reverent  scholars  upon  these  topics,  he 
does  but  demonstrate  by  his  experience  that  intel- 
lectual liberty  is  rarely  possible  within  sectarian 
boundaries,  even  though  the  body  with  which  he 
communes  may  be  the  most  cultured  and  liberal  of 


10         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

all  the  sects, — may  assume  indeed  to  be  no  sect, 
but  the  church  universal. 

As  far  as  the  enlightenment  of  the  public  is  in- 
volved in  the  event,  it  does  not  seem  to  matter 
much  whether  the  voice  of  truth  is  silenced  by  the 
rack  and  thumb-screw,  as  of  yore,  or  by  the 
friendly  request  of  an  assistant  bishop,  as  at  the 
present  day.  Silenced  it  is  for  the  moment,  and 
that  effectually ;  while  in  the  ears  of  the  eagerly 
waiting  people  rings  the  old-time  query,  never 
more  forceful  or  pertinent  than  to-day,  Why  seek 
ye  not,  even  of  yourselves,  what  is  true  ? 

In  this  spirit  of  single-minded  search  for  the 
truth,  it  is  proposed  to  investigate  the  origins  of 
Christianity,  the  character  and  validity  of  the  New 
Testament  literature,  and  the  different  phases  of 
custom  and  belief  which  existed  in  the  earliest 
Christian  communities.  The  writer  perhaps  owes 
it  to  his  readers  to  inform  them  that  his  work  was 
commenced  and  prosecuted  with  no  original  pur- 
pose or  expectation  of  publication,  and  that  it  em- 
bodies the  results  of  some  years  of  careful  study 
in  connection  with  his  duties  as  teacher  of  an  ad- 
vanced class  of  Sunday-school  pupils.  The  papers 
herein  collected  were  originally  prepared  and  de- 
livered as  a  course  of  lectures  before  an  Associa- 
tion* engaged  in  the  systematic  study  of  the 
world's  great  religions.  Their  publication  is  due 
solely  to  the  cordial  appreciation  and  earnestly  ex- 
pressed desire  of  those  who  listened  to  their  deliv- 
ery.   Their  original  form  will  not  be  essentially 

•The  Association  for  Moral  and  Spiritual  Education, 
Brooklyn,  N.Y. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

modified ;  but  sub-titles  and  explanatory  notes  will 
be  inserted  for  the  convenience  of  the  general 
reader,  and  a  carefully  prepared  topical  index  will, 
it  is  believed,  add  to  the  usefulness  of  the  lectures. 
It  is  hoped  that  the  reader  will  unite  with  us  in 
the  attempt  to  hold  our  educational  and  inherited 
prejudices  and  prepossessions,  as  far  as  possible,  in 
abeyance,  bearing  in  mind  that  maxim  of  Confu- 
cius which  affirms  that  "the  superior  man,  in  the 
world,  does  not  set  himself  either  for  anything  or 
against  anything:  what  is  right  he  will  follow." 
The  sense  of  this  maxim  is  rendered  more  tersely, 
if  less  unequivocally,  by  Paul,  in  the  text  which 
may  be  rendered :  "Test  all  things  thoroughly,  and 
hold  fast  to  that  which  is  morally  beautiful." 

Commencing  our  investigation  with  an  examina- 
tion of  the  local  environment  of  the  earliest  phase 
of  Christianity,  involved  in  the  political,  social, 
and  religious  condition  of  Palestine  in  the  Roman 
period,  we  will  next  consider  the  state  of  society 
and  religion  in  the  Roman  Empire  outside  of 
Palestine, — that  fruitful  ground  into  which  the 
earliest  seeds  of  Christian  thought  and  life  were 
transplanted.  Thereafter,  we  will  investigate  the 
sources  of  our  information  concerning  the  life  and 
teachings  of  Jesus,  and  the  different  stages  of  the 
evolution  of  the  new  religion,  up  to  the  time  of  its 
secular  triumph. 

The  literature  bearing  upon  these  topics  is  al- 
ready enormous,  and  is  expanding  with  every 
added  year.  The  work  involved  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  these  lectures  has  therefore  not  been  in- 
considerable :  it  is  much  greater,  indeed,  than  the 


12  A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

somewhat  meagre  results  may  appear  to  indicate. 
The  greatest  care  has  been  taken  to  insure  accu- 
racy in  regard  to  all  statements  of  fact,  reliacf^ 
having  been  placed  only  on  authorities  of  recog- 
nized weight  and  impartiality.  For  the  conclu- 
sions and  deductions  from  ascertained  historical 
facts,  herein  set  forth,  no  one  is  responsible  save 
the  writer,  who  commits  them  to  the  candid  judg- 
ment of  the  unbiassed  reader,  trusting  that  they 
may  serve  a  good,  if  humble,  purpose  toward  the 
discovery  of  truth  and  the  consequent  enfranchise- 
ment of  mankind  from  superstition  and  theological 
bondage. 


L 

PALESTINE  IN  THE  ROMAN  PERIOD. 

A  TRITE  subject,  but  one  of  supreme  interest  and 
importance,  is  that  to  which  we  are  to  devote  our 
attention,— the  Origin  and  Growth  of  Christianity. 
Of  making  books  upon  this  topic  there  has  been 
no  end.  It  can  hardly  be  anticipated  that  the 
present  effort  will  add  anything  to  the  information 
of  those  unprejudiced  investigators  whose  inclina- 
tion and  leisure  have  permitted  them  to  make 
acquaintance  with  the  current  literature  bearing 
upon  this  question  in  all  its  different  relations. 
These,  however,  are  of  necessity  the  few:  the 
present  lectures  are  intended  for  others,— for  those 
whom  lack  of  time  has  prevented  from  keeping 
pace  with  the  growth  of  a  literature  whose  bulk  is 
already  portentous. 

Treating  the  topics  involved  in  this  study  from 
the  stand-point  of  sympathetic  rationalism,  and,  in 
accordance  with  the  latest  results  of  critical  and 
exegetical  research,  regarding  Christianity  as  a 
product  of  natural  evolution  from  the  existing 
environment,  with  its  inheritance  of  past  influences 
and  traditions,  the  attempt  will  be  made  to  group 
together  and  present  as  clearly  and  consistently  as 
possible  the  salient  points  in  each  division  of  the 


14         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

subject  in  such  a  brief  and  succinct  form  that  the 
reader  may  readily  retain  them  in  his  memory, 
and  find  the  theme,  notwithstanding  its  familiarity, 
not  devoid  of  interest  or  unworthy  of  his  serious 
attention. 

From  the  CaptiTity  to  the  Roman  Period.* 

Palestine,  in  the  generations  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  birth  of  Jesus, — a  land  less  in  extent 
than  the  State  of  New  Hampshire, — from  its 
location,  the  character  of  its  people,  and  the 
peculiarities  of  their  national  religion,  became  the 
seat  of  a  remarkable  series  of  political  and  social 
events.  The  period  of  the  ancient  Hebraism, 
interrupted  in  its  development  by  the  dispersion 
of  the  Northern  tribes  and  the  Babylonian  cap- 
tivity of  the  Southern  tribes,  had  long  since 
passed.  Persia  and  Chaldea  had  bestowed  upon 
Israel  their  gifts  of  the  belief  in  a  future  life  and 
a  bodily  resurrection.  The  Persian  conception  of 
the  speedy  destruction  of  the  world  by  fire  and 
the  coming  of  a  supernatural  saviour  had  pene- 
trated the  popular  mind  of  Judaism,  and  modified 
its  growing  Messianic  expectation.  Satan,  the 
old  time  messenger  and  servant  of  Yahweh,  had 
been  endowed  with  the  attributes  of  the  Persian 
Ahriman,  thus  becoming  the  devil  of  the  New 
Testament;!    and    the   Chaldean   superstition   of 

*As  it  is  our  purpose  hereafter  to  show  the  natural 
relation  of  the  thought  and  life  of  Jesns  to  his  social  and 
intellectual  environment,  the  material  for  this  lecture  has 
accordingly   been  drawn  wholly  from   other  than   New 

tThe  word  "devil"  is  of  Aryan  origin,  and  is  not  found 
at  all  in  the  Old  Testament. 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD  15 

active  demoniacal  influences  in  human  affairs, 
while  it  was  rejected  by  the  cultivated  classes, 
had  obtained  a  strong  hold  upon  the  credulity  of 
the  common  people. 

The  Persian  protectorate,  cut  short  by  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander  the  Great,  had  been  succeeded 
by  the  period  of  Greek  domination,  which  in  turn 
was  interrupted  by  the  successful  issue  of  the 
Maccabjean  struggle  for  freedom,  followed  by  a 
century  of  independence  and  comparative  pros- 
perity under  the  leadership  of  the  descendants  of 
Judas  Maccabseus.  Success,  however,  as  often 
happens,  brought  corruption  in  its  wake ;  and  the 
later  Asmonean  leaders  were  no  longer  animated 
by  the  resolute  and  incorruptible  patriotism  which 
spurred  on  their  ancestors  in  the  struggle  for 
liberty.  For  many  years,  the  country  was  disturbed 
by  political  dissensions,  which  finally  wrought  the 
overthrow  of  the  independent  Commonwealth. 

During  all  this  period  of  strife,  the  more  faith- 
ful adherents  of  Judaism,  who  held  to  the  old 
theocratic  conception  of  Israel,  kept  aloof  from 
political  strife,  acknowledging  Yahweh*  as  their 
only  King  and  Ruler,  and  submitting  to  the 
authority  of  their  superiors  with  silent  but  indig- 
nant protest.  They  left  the  petty  dissensions  of 
politics  to  the  holders  and  seekers  for  office,  who 
then,  as  now,  were  abundantly  able  to  create  a 
popular  commotion  with  little  assistance  from  the 
substantial  and  thinking  classes  of  the  people. 

•The  name  "Yahweh"  will  be  used  throughout  these 
lectures  instead  of  the  familiar  "Jehovah,"  as  expressing 
more  accurately  the  correct  orthography  and  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  word. 


16         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY- 

Occasions  of  Roaaan  Interference. 

About  the  year  69  B.C.,  a  contest  for  the  throne 
arose  between  two  Asmonean  pretenders,  John 
Hyrcanus  and  Aristobulus.  To  decide  the  dispute, 
five  years  later,  Scaulus,  the  Roman  commander  in 
Syria,  was  appealed  to  as  an  arbitrator.  He 
assigned  the  throne  to  Aristobulus;  but,  in  the 
following  year,  Pompey  the  Great,  who  was  then 
at  the  head  of  affairs  in  Rome,  annulled  the  act 
of  Scaulus,  transferred  the  regal  office  to  Hyrcanus, 
and  carried  Aristobulus  a  captive  to  Rome,  where, 
with  his  two  daughters  and  his  son  Absalom,  he 
graced  the  public  triumph  of  the  great  Roman 
general,  in  the  year  61  B.C.  Four  years  later, 
Alexander,  another  son  of  Aristobulus,  raised  an 
insurrection  in  Palestine;  and,  in  the  year  54 
B.C.,  Crassus,  then  the  Roman  commander  in 
Syria,  taking  advantage  of  the  turbulence  incited 
by  these  dissensions,  took  possession  of  the  city 
of  Jerusalem  with  his  army,  and  shocked  the 
entire  religious  community  by  committing  the 
sacrilege  of  entering  and  plundering  the  temple. 

On  the  advent  of  Julius  Caesar  to  supreme  power, 
soon  after  this  event,  the  fortunes  of  the  Jews  im- 
proved. He  granted  them  many  privileges,  and 
relieved  them  from  oppressive  exactions,  both  in 
Rome,  where  a  colony  had  existed  since  the  time 
of  Pompey,  and  in  their  native  country.  Aris- 
tobulus having  been  poisoned  in  Rome  at  the 
instigation  of  the  party  of  Pompey,  and  his  son 
Alexander  having  been  beheaded,  Csesar  recog- 
nized Hyrcanus  as  High  Priest  and  bestowed 
upon  him  the  title  of  Prince,  making  him  ruler 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD  17 

of  Palestine  under  the  protection  of  the  empire. 
A  few  years  later,  in  44  B.C.,  Herod,  a  prince  of 
Idutnea  or  Edom, — the  ancient  hereditary  rival 
and  foe  of  Israel, — having  married  the  daughter 
of  Hyrcanus,  was  made  tetrarch  or  governor  of 
the  country  under  his  father-in-law. 

In  the  year  40  B.C.,  the  Parthians,  who  had 
revolted  and  overthrown  the  Seleucidse, — the  suc- 
cessors of  Alexander  the  Great  in  the  eastern 
provinces, — and  had  maintained  thus  far  an  effec- 
tive resistance  against  the  Roman  power,  invaded 
Judea  in  alliance  with  Antigonus,  a  son  of  Aris- 
tobulus,  and  seated  him  upon  the  throne,  carry- 
ing Hyrcanus  to  Persia,  a  prisoner.  About  the 
same  time,  the  Roman  Senate  bestowed  the  king- 
dom upon  Herod;  and  in  the  year  37  B.C.,  by 
the  aid  of  Mark  Antony,  he  stormed  Jerusalem, 
captured  the  Holy  City,  expelled  the  Parthian 
invaders,  and  assumed  the  regal  power.  Thus, 
the  patriotic  Jews  were  at  last  subjected  to  the 
unexampled  degradation  and  ignominy  of  behold- 
ing an  accursed  Edomite  seated  upon  the  thron« 
of  David. 

The  Sects :  the  Pharisees  and  Saddncees* 

During  this  period  of  political  dissension,  the 
people  were  also  rent  by  religious  disputes  between 
the  rival  sects,  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees.  The 
latter  have  sometimes  erroneously  been  termed  the 
Liberals  of  Judaism.  They  have  been  regarded  as 
innovators  upon  the  ancient  customs  and  beliefs 
of  their  people.  In  their  leading  doctrines,  on  the 
contrary,  they   were  pre-eminently  the   represen- 


18         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

tatives  of  the  historic  life  and  thought  of  Israel. 
They  were  the  traditional  custodians  of  the  priestly 
office  and  emoluments ;  constituting,  as  it  were,  an 
ancient  order  of  hereditary  nobility. 

The  Asmonean  rulers  were  originally  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  growing  religious  life  of  the  people. 
They  had  attained  their  leadership  through  their 
pre-eminent  merits  and  patriotism  and  with  the 
popular  support.  But,  not  unnaturally,  they  were 
rejoiced  when  they  began  to  find  favor  in  the 
eyes  of  the  ancient  order  of  nobility.  Mutual 
interests,  apart  from  the  life  and  thought  of  the 
people,  cemented  a  cordial  bond  of  sympathy 
between  them.  The  Sadducees,  holding  them- 
selves superior  to  the  masses  by  reason  of  their 
priestly  functions,  and  puffed  up  by  their  alliance 
with  the  ruling  house,  grew  more  and  more  con- 
servative and  narrow-minded.  They  sought  to 
build  up  a  hierarchy,  to  identify  the  entire  range 
of  religious  duties  with  themselves  and  their 
official  position.  "Thus  gradually,"  says  Rabbi 
Geiger,  a  learned  Jewish  historian,  "they  changed 
their  position.  Instead  of  remaining  the  servants 
and  ministers  of  religion,  they  made  religion  their 
servant."  * 

The  germs  of  a  priestly  order  which  formed 
the  nucleus  of  this  sect  doubtless  existed  from  a 
period  long  antedating  the  Babylonian  captivity, 
but  the  sect  as  it  appeared  in  the  generations 
approaching  the  advent  of  Christianity  was  un- 
known to  the  Old  Testament  writings.    Its  origin 

^Jiidaism,  and  its  History,   hy   Rabbi   Geiger,  whicb 
see  for  an  admirable  account  of  the  Jewish  sects. 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD  19 

is  obscure,  and  the  meaning  of  its  designation 
uncertain  *  The  sect  of  the  Pharisees  was  un- 
known prior  to  the  Maccabaean  era,  about  165 
B.C.  In  opposition  to  the  priestly  assumptions  of 
the  Sadducees,  their  opponents  held  that  all  the 
people  should  be  regarded  as  sanctified  in  the 
service  of  Yahweh,  all  alike  should  be  elevated 
to  a  condition  of  priestly  holiness.  Accordingly, 
they  adopted  strict  rules  of  life,  and  insisted  upon 
the  formal  observance  of  the  rites  of  their  relig- 
ion in  order  to  approximate  as  nearly  as  possible 
to  the  special  requirements  of  the  priestly  office. 

The  Sadducees  naturally  magnified  the  temple 
worship,  in  which  they  were  chiefly  interested,  and 
advocated  strict  conformity  to  the  letter  of  the 
law,— the  Thorah.  The  Pharisees  were  the  leading 
supporters  of  the  synagogue,  an  institution  which 
arose  during  the  Maccabaean  period.  They  pro- 
claimed the  superior  sanctity  of  the  oral  law  or 
tradition,  which  they  attributed  also  to  Moses,  and 
advocated  the  right  of  all  to  be  teachers  and  in- 
terpreters of  the  Thorah.  Public  prayers,  daily 
ablutions,  the  consecration  of  the  daily  meals, 
were  characteristic  Pharisaic  observances,  the  in- 
tent of  which  was  to  render  every  man,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  a  priest.  The  scribes,  who  traced  their 
origin  to  the  time  of  Ezra,t  were  the  copyists, 
readers,  and  commentators  on  the  law  in  the  syn- 
agogues, and  were  almost  exclusively  drawn  from 
the  sect  of  the  Pharisees.     They  have  sometimes 

■7^^1*1™®  '^l'"'!®  *^®  '^'^^^  Sadducee  from  the  name  of  one 
main  "the  wise."   ^  P"®'*'  °*''''"'  "■'"''  *  ^""^^  ^^'^  *<> 
t  Circum  444  B.C. 


20         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

erroneously  been  regarded  as  constituting  a  sepa- 
rate sect  by  themselves. 

The  Sadducees  adopted  the  aristocratic  designa- 
tions of  "sons  of  the  families  of  rank"  and  "sons 
of  the  high  priests."  The  Pharisees  were  known 
as  "separatists,"  "the  learned,"  sometimes  even 
"the  people."  Fraternizing  with  the  main  body  of 
the  populace,  they  accepted  the  popular  doctrines 
of  a  future  life,  a  bodily  resurrection,  and  the  com- 
ing of  a  personaj  Messiah.  They  declared  that 
the  exclusive  priesthood  would  go  down,  the  peo- 
ple would  be  emancipated,  a  descendant  of  the 
house  of  David  would  arise  and  reign  over  them, 
the  servant  and  representative  of  Yahweh.  Many 
of  them  anticipated  the  miraculous  destruction  of 
the  existing  world  and  society,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  a  perpetual  kingdom  of  God,  a  regen- 
erated world  in  the  glories  and  joys  of  which  all 
true  believers  would  participate.  The  Sadducees, 
on  the  contrary,  including,  it  is  said,  twenty  thou- 
sand priests  living  in  gluttony  and  luxury  in 
Jerusalem  alone,  satisfied  with  their  power  and 
emoluments,  contented  with  the  present  life,  wish- 
ing for  no  change,  repudiated  the  notions  of  a 
resurrection  and  a  future  existence  as  unwarranted 
by  the  teachings  of  the  law,  and  rejected  the  doc- 
trine of  the  personal  Messiahship. 

Jexvish  lUonasticism  :  the  Essenes^ 

About  a  century  before  the  Christian  era  there 
arose  in  Palestine  the  small  monastic  sect  of  the 
Essenes.*    During  the  reign  of  Herod,  it  is  esti- 

"Our  information  concerning  the  Essenes  is  derived 
mainly  from  the  works  of  Flavins  Josephus. 


PALESTINE   IX   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD  21 

mated  that  they  numbered  about  four  thousand 
ascetics  or  "come-outers,"  withdrawn  from  among 
the  Pharisees,  and   carrying  to  an  extreme  the 
Pharisaic  doctrine  of  separatism.     Members  were 
received  into  this  order  by  a  solemn  ceremonial  of 
initiation,  which  included  the  rite  of   immersion. 
They  took  vows  of  chastity  and  seclusion,  per- 
formed frequent  ceremonial  ablutions,  refused  to 
make  sacrificial  offerings  at  the  temple,  were  pro- 
hibited   from    taking  oaths,  and  held    all    their 
property  in  common.    They  had  no  fixed  dwelling- 
places,  but  appointed  some  of  their  members  or 
sympathizers  in  every  considerable  town  or  city 
to  entertain  them  as  they  journeyed  through  in 
the  course  of  their  itinerant  wanderings.     They 
had    certain    conventual    establishments    in    the 
wilderness  near  the  Jordan,  in  the  neighborhood 
of    which    they  practised  husbandry  during  the 
intervals  of  their  journeyings  and  religious  exer- 
cises.     They    were    extreme    formalists,    placing 
greater  importance  even  than  the  Pharisees  upon 
the  performance  of  all  the  minutise  of  their  relig- 
ious observances.     They  wore   a  peculiar  white 
costume  and  a  sacred  girdle.     They  carefully  pre- 
served and  often  repeated  the  names  of  the  angels. 
They  venerated  as  sacred  the  rays  of  light,  and 
turned  toward  the  sun  to  pray. 

The  Essenes  were  as  fatalistic  in  their  beliefs  as 
the  Mohammedans.  Unlike  the  Pharisees,  they 
rejected  the  doctrine  of  a  bodily  resurrection,  and 
believed  in  a  spiritual  immortality  for  both  the 
righteous  and  evil-doers.  They  interpreted  many 
passages  of   Scripture  allegorically  in  defence  of 


22  A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

their  peculiar  doctrines.  By  the  poor,  they  were 
known  as  skilful  physicians ;  and  they  were  popu- 
larly reputed  to  be  remarkable  prophets.  Many  of 
their  customs  and  beliefs,  as  well  as  those  of  the 
Pharisees,  bear  marked  evidences  of  Persian  or 
Zoroastrian  origin.  Some  modern  writers  have 
attempted  to  trace  their  monastic  habits  and 
ascetic  tendencies  to  the  influence  of  Buddhism, 
but  no  certain  or  probable  contact  of  this  sect  with 
the  religion  of  Sakya-Muni  has  yet  been  clearly 
demonstrated.  They  appear,  on  the  contrary,  to 
have  originated  in  Palestine  by  a  natural  evolu- 
tion out  of  Pharisaic  Judaism.  Some  writers  have 
attempted  to  identify  them  with  the  Therapeutae, 
represented  to  have  been  a  monastic  sect  or  order 
of  itinerant  physicians  which  arose  in  Egypt  at 
about  this  period ;  but  our  information  concerning 
them  is  not  sufficiently  trustworthy  to  enable  us 
to  affirm  even  their  existence  as  a  fact  beyond 
dispute.* 

Though  we  cannot  assert  any  probable  connec- 
tion between  the  doctrines  of  any  of  the  Jewish 
sects  and  those  of  Buddhism,  it  is  manifest  that 
other  Eastern  notions,  chiefly  of  Zoroastrian  ori- 
gin, were  gradually  creeping  into  the  thought  and 
faith  of  the  people  of  Israel.  Besides  the  more 
prominent  beliefs  of  this  character,  to  which  allu- 
sion has  already  been  made,  ideas  were  probably 
already  working  in  the  Hebrew  mind,  which  sub- 
sequently took  form  in  the  mystical  and  esoteric 

♦The  earliest  accounts  of  the  Therapeutas  appear  in  a 
•work  attributed  to  Philo,  but  which  is  of  doubtful  authen- 
ticity. It  is  probably  of  much  later  date,  and  its  testimony 
must  be  regarded  as  untrustworthy.  See  Kuenen,  lieligion 
Of  Israel,  \ol.  111. 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD 


23 


doctrines  of  the  Kabbala  *  the  earliest  account  of 
which  we  find  in  a  work  attributed  by  current 
Jewish  tradition  to  Rabbi  Akiba,  who  wrote  about 
120  A.D.,  but  which,  in  reality,  was  probably 
written  several  centuries  later.  The  Oriental  doc- 
trine of  creation  by  Emanation  was  certainly  cur- 
rent at  this  time;  and  the  Aramaic  version  of 
the  Scriptures,  which  was  commonly  used  in  the 
synagogues,  designated  God  by  the  term  Memra, 
or  the  "Word,"  whenever  it  was  desired  to  separate 
him  in  thought  from  the  visible  creation.f 

Tke  Kauaim,  or  Zealots. 

Out  of  the  long  oppression  of  the  Jews  by  for- 
eign rulers  and  the  indignities  offered  to  their 
religion,   culminating  in   the  desecration  of    the 
sacred  temple  of  Yahweh,  grew  the  party  of  the 
Kanaim,  or  Zealots.    Its  members  were  patriots 
whose  zeal  for  their  ancestral  faith  impelled  them 
to  renounce  all  foreign  domination,  and  to  strive 
to  break  the  bonds  of  the  oppressor  by  the  force  of 
arms.      The  Kanaim  held    unswervingly  to  the 
ancient  theocratic  character  of  the  Commonwealth. 
"There  is  but  one  kingdom:  it  is  the  heavenly 
kingdom,-the  kingdom  of  God."     This  was  the 
motto  of  the  Zealot.     "Thou  shalt  make  no  graven 
image"  was  the  command  of   the    Thorah.      To 
touch  a  piece  of  money  with  the  image  of  the 

•  Hebrew  ''tradition,"  often  spelled  "Ca^hala." 
+  The"Targams,"or  Aramaic  versions  of  the  Om  Testa- 
ment writines,  were  at  this  time  probably  oral.    The  Tar- 
Sim  ^fOnkel^B.  the  first  of  the  ^vritten  Targums   da^es 
from  the  secondcentury  o'  our  era.    See  t'^f  able  discus 

Bity. 


24        A   STUDY  OP   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Roman  emperor  on  it  was  therefore  a  sin  in  his 
eyes.  Yahweh  only  was  king.  To  pay  taxes  to  a 
foreigner,  the  representative  of  false  gods  and  an 
alien  religion,  was  therefore  a  crime.  To  make 
contracts  under  the  seal  of  the  Roman  officials  was 
blasphemy.  "How  can  you  pretend  to  be  pious?" 
said  one  of  this  sect  to  a  leading  Pharisee.  "You 
write  in  contracts  the  name  of  the  ruler  by  the 
side  of  that  of  Moses,  beginning  'In  the  year  of 
the  Emperor,'  and  concluding  'According  to  the 
Law  of  Moses  and  Israel.'  If  the  name  of  the 
unbeliever  is  in  this  way  incorporated  into  con- 
tracts, can  you  call  that  piety  ?" 

This  uncompromising  patriotism  and  resolute 
adherence  to  the  old  faith  of  Israel  did  not  fail 
to  meet  with  a  response  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 
Associations  were  formed,  which  had  for  their  ob- 
ject the  delivery  of  the  people  from  the  foreign 
yoke;  and  insurrections  were  frequent  from  the 
time  of  Judah  of  Gaulonitis,  in  the  generation  be- 
fore Christ,  to  that  of  Bar-Cochba,  more  than  a 
century  later,  who  was  accepted  as  the  true  Mes- 
siah by  a  large  number  of  the  people,  including 
some  of  the  leading  Rabbis  of  the  day.  During 
this  period,  it  is  said  that  more  than  fifty  leaders 
arose  among  the  Jews,  claiming  the  Messianic 
office,  each  of  whom  had  a  considerable  pcpular 
following. 

Sectional  Characteristics:   Oalilee,  Samaria,  and 

Judea. 

Galilee  appears  to  have  been  the  fountain-head 
of  these  insurrectionary  movements.  The  Gali- 
leans were  a  mixed  race,  having  intermarried  with 


PALESTINE   IN    THE   ROMAN   PERIOD  25 

the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  neighborhood 
after  the  deportation  of  the  northern  tribes  by  the 
Assyrians,  They  were  regarded  with  suspicion 
and  contempt  by  the  more  conservative  classes 
who  inhabited  Judea,  and  came  under  the  direct 
influence  of  the  government  and  the  priestly  party 
of  the  Sadducees  who  gathered  around  the  temple 
as  the  centre  of  their  worship  and  the  chief  cita- 
del of  their  faith.  This  region  was  often  called 
"Galilee  of  the  Gentiles"  by  the  blue-blooded 
Jews  of  Jerusalem.  Nevertheless,  the  Galileans 
strenuously  maintained  their  rights  as  children  of 
Abraham,  and  were  strict  in  their  allegiance  to  the 
law  and  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  Like  the  Jews 
of  Judea,  they  despised  their  neighbors,  the  Sama- 
ritans, whose  blood  wa3  even  less  pure  than  their 
own,  and  who  had  established  a  new  temple  on 
Mt.  Gerizim,  breaking  loose  entirely  from  all 
allegiance  to  the  aristocratic  element  of  Jerusalem 
and  Judea.  So  bitter  was  the  feeling  against  the 
Samaritans  that  it  was  customary  for  travellers 
between  GalUee  and  Judea  to  avoid  Samaria, 
which  lay  in  the  direct  route,  by  crossing  over  to 
the  east  of  the  Jordan. 

Judah  of  Gaulonitis,  himself  a  native  of  Galilee 
or  an  adjacent  district,  may  be  regarded  as  the 
founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Zealots.  He  taught 
that  to  obey  the  foreign  ruler,  or  in  any  way  de- 
part from  the  original  theocratic  constitution  of 
Israel  or  to  compromise  in  the  least  degree  with 
the  secular  power,  was  rebellion  against  the  sacred 
law  of  Yahweh.  Rising  in  insurrection  with  a 
considerable  following   in  the  generation   before 


26        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  birth  of  Jesus,  after  a  severe  struggle  he  was 
defeated,  captured,  and  crucified.  His  followers 
were  scattered  and  disarmed,  but  the  spirit  which 
animated  them  was  not  thereby  quelled.  A  gen- 
eration later,  John  of  Giscala,  a  descendant  of 
Judah,  became  the  leader  of  another  rebellion 
which  likewise  came  to  a  disastrous  end.  Theu- 
das,  a  third  sectarian  leader,  mentioned  in  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  also  hailed  from  Galilee.  He 
met  with  some  local  and  temporary  success,  and 
had  many  enthusiastic  followers,  but  finally  suc- 
cumbed to  the  fate  of  his  predecessors.  The  mar- 
tyrdom of  these  leaders  of  the  Kanaim  by  cruci- 
fixion only  served  to  perpetuate  their  memories 
and  give  currency  to  their  revolutionary  senti- 
ments, and  thus  added  fuel  to  the  patriotic  flame 
which  was  glowing  in  the  hearts  of  the  people. 

The  RoTlval  of  Prophecy:  John  the  Baptist. 

From  among  the  less  cultivated  classes  there 
also  arose  certain  religious  enthusiasts  claiming 
the  ofifice  and  assuming  the  characteristic  garb  of 
the  Hebrew  prophets.  They  announced  the  speedy 
destruction  of  the  existing  order  of  society,  and 
the  coming  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  through 
supernatural  intervention.  The  popular  concep- 
tion of  the  heavenly  kingdom  involved  the  univer- 
sal triumph  and  control  of  the  Jewish  theocracy, 
the  annihilation  of  its  enemies,  and  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  united  Israel,  with  a  descendant  of 
the  house  of  David  to  rule  over  them  as  the  ser- 
vant and  representative  of  Yahweh.    Many  antici- 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD 


27 


pated  the  return  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  in  person, 
as  the  herald  of  Israel's  better  day.    John  the 
Baptist,  the  most  noteworthy  of   the  latter-day 
prophets,  was  undoubtedly  an  historical  personage. 
A  brief  sketch  of  his  career  is  given  us  by  Jose- 
phus,  in  passages  of    unchallenged   authenticity. 
The  account  harmonizes  in  the  main  with  the 
conception  of  the  man  which  we  derive  from  the 
familiar  New  Testament  description,  and  presents 
a  graphic  suggestion  of  the  effect  of  his  impas- 
sioned exhortations  upon  his  followers.    Josephus 
also  alludes  to  one  Banus,  possibly  a  leader  of  the 
Essenes,  who  immersed  his  disciples  in  the  Jordan 
river.    At  a  later  day,  one  Jesus,  a  Judean  Jew, 
uttered  stern  warnings  and  foreboding  prophecies 
of    evil  to  Jerusalem  during  its  investment  by 
Titus,  prior  to  its  final  destruction  in  the  year  70 
B.C.     These  leaders  drew  to  themselves  chiefly  the 
less  educated  Pharisees  and  the  so-called  "people 
of  the  land,"  a  large  class  of  mixed  parentage, 
whose  poverty  and  menial  occupations  forbade  a 
strict  observance  of  the  minutiae  of  Pharisaic  ritu- 
alism, though  their  sympathies  and  associations 
were  generally  with  this  most  numerous  and  pop- 
ular sect. 

Orowth  of  the  Messiaaic  Idea. 

Out  of  all  this  turmoil  and  conflict  of  the  sects, 
these  disputes  about  idle  formalities  of  ritualistic 
observance  and  textual  interpretations,  one  doc- 
trine grew  steadily  into  ever  greater  prominence 
in  the  hearts  and  hopes  of  the  people,— the  belief 
in  a  coming  Deliverer,  "the  anointed  of  Tahweh," 


28        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

— the  Messiah.  Out  of  the  vague  natural  hope  of 
the  earlier  time  for  the  reunion  of  a  scattered  and 
divided  people  under  a  prince  of  the  house  of 
David  had  grown  a  strong  belief  that  a  leader 
would  be  raised  up  to  them,  sustained  by  the 
supernatural  power  of  Yahweh,  who  would  put 
an  end  to  the  existing  social  order,  and  establish 
anew  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  The  Persian 
notions  of  a  bodily  resurrection  and  a  millennial 
era  of  earthly  prosperity,  to  be  heralded  by  the 
coming  of  Sosiosch,  "the  conquering  Saviour,"  had 
penetrated  the  faith  of  Judaism,  and  intensified 
and  transformed  the  popular  conception  of  the 
Messianic  character.  We  would  doubtless  err 
greatly,  if  we  supposed  that  any  single,  consistent 
picture  of  the  coming  Saviour  was  present  to  the 
minds  of  all  classes.  The  better  educated  of  the 
Pharisees  probably  still  held  the  faith  of  the  great 
prophets  of  the  captivity,  which  regarded  Israel 
itself  as  the  Messiah  of  the  nations,  the  leader  of 
the  world  out  of  polytheism  and  idolatry  to  a 
knowledge  of  Yahweh  as  the  one  true  God,  and 
the  conception  of  righteousness  as  his  most  faith- 
ful and  acceptable  service.  The  popular  expec- 
tation, however,  looked  for  a  personal  deliverer, 
either  in  the  character  of  a  great  military  chief- 
tain like  David,  who  would  destroy  the  enemies  of 
Israel  with  the  weapons  of  natural  warfare,  or  in 
that  of  a  chosen  servant  of  Yahweh,  endowed 
with  supernatural  powers,  who  would  overcome 
the  nations  by  the  might  of  the  Eternal,  and  her- 
ald the  appearance  of  the  everlasting  kingdom. 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   ROMAN   PEBIOD 


29 


I^ibeval  and  Conservative  Pharisecs.-HlUel. 

In  times  like  these  there  appear  not  only  men 
like  these  fanatical  chieftains  who  fomented  m- 
surrection,  but  also  leaders  by  right  of  moral  and 
intellectual  superiority,  who  voice  the  higher  con- 
ceptions  of   truth   as  they  appear   to  the  more 
intelligent  classes,  and  who  are  yet  free  from  that 
ourblind   conservatism    and  time-serving    subser- 
^ence  to  rulers,  which  characterized  the  educated 
Sadducees.    Such  a  man  was  Rabbi  Hiilel,  born 
about  ninety  years  before  Jesus,  and  dying,  it  is 
said,  at  the  full  age  of  one  hundred  years,  when 
the  founder  of  Christianity  was  about  ten  years 
old.    Hiilel  was  a  liberal  Pharisee,  the  leader  of 
one  of  the  two  great  parties  into  which  the  popu- 
lar sect  was  divided.    Such  were  his  services  to 
Judaism  that  the  Talmud    declares,  "After  the 
time  of  Ezra,  the  law  came  into  oblivion;  but 
Hiilel  established  it  anew." 

HiUel  was  a  very  poor  youth,  but  ardently  am- 
bitious  to  learn.    It  is  related  of  him  that,  being 
unable  to  pay  the  small  fee  for  admission  to  the 
lecture-room    of    Shammaya    and    Abtalyon,   he 
climbed  up  to  the  window  in  order  to  hear  the 
discourses  of  these  eminent  teachers.    The  night 
was  unusually  cold;  and  he  lay  there,  benumbed, 
untU  the  snowflakes,  which  were  falling  thick  and 
fast,  covered  him  entirely.     Stiffened  with  cold 
and  sleet,  he  passed  the  whole  night  in  this  peril- 
ous position.    In  the  morning,  when  the  obstruc- 
tion to  the  window  was  perceived,  he  was  discov- 
ered almost  dead  from  exposure.    He  was  taken 


30         A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY 

into  the  house,  restored  to  consciousness  with  great 
difficulty,  and  thenceforth,  to  reward  his  ardor  for 
learning,  instruction  was  bestowed  upon  him  gra- 
tuitously. 

The  Character  of  Hillel's  Teaching:  the  Oolden 

Bale. 

A  proselyte  once  came  to  Shammai,  a  distin- 
guished leader  of  the  more  conservative  party  of 
the  Pharisees, — the  contemporary  and  rival  of 
Hillel, — and  desired  to  be  initiated  into  Judaism, 
provided  he  could  be  instructed  in  its  precepts 
within  the  time  during  which  he  could  stand  upon 
one  foot.  Shammai  repulsed  him  harshly  as  a 
trifler  unworthy  of  a  serious  response.  On  making 
a  similar  application  to  Hillel,  however,  he  received 
this  reply :  "My  son,  listen.  The  essence  of  Juda- 
ism is,  Whatever  is  displeasing  unto  thee  do  not  do 
unto  others.*  This  is  the  foundation  and  root  of 
Judaism :  all  else  is  commentary.  Go,  and  learn." 
"Won  by  the  paternal  kindness  and  "sweet  reason- 
ableness" of  the  teacher,  this  man  speedily  became 
a  convert  to  the  faith. 

Hillel  inculcated  the  belief  in  the  merciful  and 
fatherly  character  of  God,  encouraged  the  cultiva- 
tion of  an  unselfish  desire  for  the  welfare  of  others, 
taught  the  necessity  and  honorable  nature  of  useful 
labor,  and  advocated  a  wise  liberality  in  adjusting 
the  harsher  features  of  the  law  to  the  existing 

*It  is  noteworthy  that  the  golden  rule  is  given  negatively 
in  the  recently  discovered  "Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles," a  document  of  very  early  date,  perhaps  older  than 
either  of  our  canonical  Gospels.  Confucius  also  gave  it  in 
this  negative  form. 


PALESTINE   IN   THE   KOMAN   PERIOD  31 

requirements  of  society.  He  believed  that  the 
irreclaimably  evil  would  suffer  eternal  punish- 
ment ;  but,  in  regard  to  those  whose  conduct  was 
an  intermixture  of  good  and  evil,  he  said,  "He 
who  is  abundant  in  mercy  will  sink  the  scale  unto 
mercy." 

Shammai  and  his  disciples  were  the  Mallocks  of 
their  day,  preachers  of  the  pessimistic  philosophy 
that  life  is  not  worth  living.  "It  is  far  better  for 
men  not  to  be  born  than  to  be  born,"  they  said. 
But  Hillel  replied :  "Well,  we  are  born.  Therefore, 
let  us  be  thoroughly  alive,  and  examine  well  our 
actions."  "Energetically  seize  life,"  was  his  motto. 
"Why  do  you  make  changes  and  innovations?"  his 
opponents  asked.  "If  I  work  not  myself,"  he 
replied,  "who  will  work  for  me?  But,  if  I  work 
for  myself  alone,  what  am  I  then  ?  Is  it  for  myself 
that  I  desire  what  is  good,  or  is  it  not  rather  the 
whole  people  who  require  to  be  quickened?" 

The  old  Jewish  law  made  every  seventh  year  a 
year  of  release,  and  all  debts  previously  contracted 
and  not  paid  were  then  cancelled  and  forgiven. 
When  trade  increased  and  men  borrowed  money, 
not  merely  from  personal  necessity,  but  for  busi- 
ness purposes,  this  provision  caused  much  hardship 
and  inconvenience.  Hillel  declared  that  this  must 
be  remedied,  and  that  thereafter  contracts  might 
be  made  with  the  express  provision  that  the  year 
of  release  should  not  cancel  the  debt.  "But  this 
is  in  violation  of  Holy  Writ ,"  said  his  opponents. 
"It  may  be,"  said  Hillel ;  "but,  if  we  cling  to  the 
letter,  all  morality  will  be  lost.  Whether  any- 
thing be  written  or  not,  the  life  decides."    In 


32         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

rebuke  of  ascetics  like  the  Esseues,  and  of  extreme 
formalists  among  the  Pharisees,  be  said :  "Do  not 
seclude  thyself  from  thy  fellow-men.  Do  not 
pretend  to  be  pre-eminently  pious.  To  forsake 
others  as  renegades  and  bask  in  the  sunlight  of 
exclusive  piety  is  immoral."  It  is  evident  that  the 
great  rabbi  was  no  advocate  of  a  merely  superficial 
system  of  morality  or  religious  observance. 

Hillel  was  wont  to  spend  much  time  in  medita- 
tion and  study,  and  was  regular  in  his  attendance 
at  the  synagogue.  One  day  he  left  the  sacred 
edifice  hastily  after  the  lesson  for  the  day,  excus- 
ing himself  by  the  plea  that  he  must  attend  upon 
a  dear  guest  at  his  home.  His  disciples  asked 
him,  "Who  is  this  dear  guest  whom  thou  enter- 
tainest?"  "That  guest,"  he  replied,  "is  my  own 
soul.  During  my  intercourse  with  the  world,  it 
must  be  pushed  back;  but,  nevertheless,  it  claims 
its  right."  Although  liberal  in  his  interpretation 
of  the  law,  Hillel  was,  nevertheless,  a  Pharisee, 
advocating  strict  adherence  to  the  usual  formalities 
of  religion,  unless  they  were  in  manifest  conflict 
with  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  man,  whom 
they  were  intended  to  serve.  He  kept  the  seventh 
day  as  commanded  in  the  law,  but  also  taught  that 
all  days  should  be  deemed  equally  holy,  and  conse- 
crated to  God's  service  by  clean  and  righteous 
actions.  When  Shammai  found  anything  particu- 
larly excellent  in  his  studies,  he  said,  "Let  it  be 
preserved  for  the  Sabbath."  Hillel  said :  "Praised 
be  God  from  day  to  day.  This  is  a  day  on  which 
I  may  rejoice  in  God's  goodness :  another  also  will 
afford  it." 


PALESTINE   IK   THE  ROMAN   PERIOD  33 

Such  was  the  teaching  of  this  reformer  among 
the  Pharisees,  the  most  eminent  Jew  of  the  gen- 
eration before  the  birth  of  Jesus.  Possibly,  the 
young  Galilean  peasant  may  have  sat  at  the  feet 
of  the  aged  teacher,  and  learned  lessons  of  liber- 
ality and  wisdom.  In  aU  probability,  he  often 
listened  to  these  teachings  as  they  passed  from  one 
to  another,  and  were  repeated  in  the  synagogues, 
where  they  constituted  at  length  a  part  of  that 
oral  law  which  was  ultimately  recorded  and  pre- 
served to  us  in  the  Talmud.*  We  may  well 
believe  that  these  doctrines  of  Hillel  helped  to 
inspire  the  humane  and  tender  counsels  of  the 
founder  of  Christianity. 

Tbe  Iiangaag;e8  o£  Palestine. 

The  popular  language  of  Palestine  at  the  advent 
of  Christianity  was  the  Syro-Chaldaic,  or  Aramaic, 
a  mixed  Semitic  tongue  which  superseded  the 
ancient  Hebrew  iu  which  the  Old  Testament  was 
written,  subsequent  to  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
It  is  probable  that  neither  Jesus  nor  any  of  his 
immediate  disciples  could  speak  or  write  in  any 
other  language.  Greek  had  become  the  language 
of  polite  society  and  the  official  tongue  through- 
out the  Roman  Empire,  and  was  probably  known 
to  the  leading  scholars  in  Jerusalem ;  although  Jo- 
sephus,  who  spoke  and  wrote  in  Greek  nearly  a 
century  after  the  birth  of  Jesus,  refers  to  it  as  "an 
alien  and  strange  tongue,"  and  affirms  that,  during 
the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  he  alone  was  able  to  act  as 

•See  article  on  the  Talmud  by  Emanuel  Bentsch  {Liter- 
ary Remains). 


34         A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

interpreter  between  the  besieged  inhabitants  and 
the  Greek-speaking  commanders  of  the  Roman 
army.  The  study  of  Greek  or  any  foreign  tongue 
was  discouraged  by  the  rabbis,  who  desired  to 
preserve  the  minds  of  the  people  as  free  as  possible 
from  the  contamination  of  foreign  religious  and 
philosophical  ideas.  "It  is  ■v^ritten,"  said  one  of 
these  Hebrew  teachers,  "  'Thou  shalt  meditate  on 
the  law  day  and  night.'  Fiad  me  an  hour  which 
is  neither  day  nor  night,  and  in  that  you  may  study 
Greek."* 

Education  among  the  Xewa, 

Josephus  declares  that  the  education  of  the 
young  was  the  first  object  of  solicitude  among  the 
Jews.  The  Talmud  re-echoas  this  sentiment,  and 
preserves  to  us  the  fine  saying,  "The  world  is 
saved  by  the  breath  of  school-children."  We 
would  greatly  err,  however,  if  we  supposed  that 
the  education  of  the  Jewish  youth  at  this  period 
embraced  any  general  or  comprehensive  course  of 
studies.  Neither  scienca  nor  letters  formed  any 
part  of  their  curriculum.  By  education  was  under- 
stood, simply,  instruction  in  the  law  of  Moses  and 
the  learning  by  heart  of  the  Psalms  and  certain 
passages  from  the  prophetical  writings.  To  this 
was  added  the  oral  commentary  of  the  rabbis, 
which  often  tended  to  obscura  rather  than  to  illu- 
minate the  real  meaning  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
opposition  to  anything  like  what  we  understand 

•  Greek  words,  however,  were  entering  into  the  corrupt 
Aramaic  which  consMtutcd  the  popular  dialect.  Several 
such  are  found  in  the  Book  of  Dantel,  written  about  165 
B.C.    The  word  Synagogxie  is  also  of  Greek  origin. 


PALESTINE    IX   THE    ROMAX    PERIOD 


35 


by  the  term  secular  education,  or  even  to  a  system 
as  universal  and  comprehensive  as  that  which  the 
Greek  and  Roman  youth  enjoyed,  was  universal 
and  exceedingly  bitter.  Strikingly  similar  preju- 
dices in  regard  to  education  still  prevail  in  the 
East,  even  among  scholarly  and  thinking  minds, 
as  we  have  recently  seen  illustrated  in  the  attitude 
of  the  eloquent  teacher  of  the  Brahmo-Somaj  of 
India,  Babu  Protap  Chunder  Mozoomdar. 

The  Jewish  prejudice  against  graven  images, 
embodied  in  a  commandment  of  the  decalogue, 
operated  to  prevent  any  general  education  of  the 
people  in  painting,  sculpture,  and  the  fine  arts. 
This  prejudice  doubtless  arose  naturally  out  of  the 
perception  of   the   immoralities    connected   with 
many  forms    of    idolatrous  worship    among    the 
heathen.     The  erection  of  the  Roman  standards, 
with  the  eagles  and  insignia  of  the  Emperor,  at 
the  gates  of    Jerusalem   and    before    the  sacred 
temple,  was  the  occasion  of  violent  outbursts  of 
popular  fury;  and  the  current  worship  of  the  em- 
peror or  his  statues  enforced  throughout  the  other 
Roman  provinces  was  steadily  and  fearlessly  re- 
pelled by  all  classes  of  the  Jews. 

Carreat  Peculiarities  of  the  Sfnogogne  SerTice. 

In  the  services  of  the  synagogue,  the  Psalms 
were  chanted,  and  their  language  was  familiar  to 
all  the  people.  The  prophets,  especially  Isaiah, 
and  the  Apocalypse  of  Daniel,  were  frequently 
read;  and  many  passages  were  interpreted,  as  in 
the  current  Christian  exegesis,  to  refer  to  the  com- 


36         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ing  of  the  Me33ianic  kingdom.  With  the  lapse  of 
time,  the  services  in  the  synagogue  and  temple 
were  becoming  somewhat  less  free  and  sponta- 
neous than  they  had  formerly  been.  A  stated  rit- 
ual, in  accordance  with  the  tendency  of  the  Phari- 
saic formalism  of  the  time,  took  the  place  of  the 
original  simplicity  and  spontaneity  of  the  syna- 
gogue service.  Some  of  the  prayers  in  use  in  the 
synagogues  in  these  early  periods  have  been  pre- 
served to  us  in  the  writings  of  the  rabbis.  They 
contain  such  familiar  expressions  as  these, — as 
familiar,  doubtless,  to  the  ears  of  the  youthful 
Jesus  as  to  our  own : — 

"Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven,  proclaim  the  unity 
of  thy  name,  and  establish  thy  kingdom  perpetually." 

"Let  us  not  fall  into  the  power  of  sin,  transgression, 
or  iniquity,  and  lead  us  not  into  temptation."  .  .  . 

"Thine,  O  Lord,  is  the  greatness,  the  power,  the 
glory,  and  the  majesty." 

"Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven:  thy  will  be  done 
on  high.  .  .  .  Do  whatsoever  seemeth  good  in  thy  sight. 
Give  me  only  bread  to  eat,  and  raiment  to  put  on. 
Forgive,  O  Lord,  those  who  have  this  day  offended 
thee." 

Prof.  Toy,  in  his  interesting  study*  recently 
published,  has  shown  us  how  deeply  the  thought 
and  phraseology  of  Jesus  were  rooted  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Old  Testament.  The  careful  student 
can  hardly  fail  to  recognize  the  fact  that  it  is  not 
necessary  to  go  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Pales- 
tine to  account  for  the  entire  groundwork  of  the 
teaching  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  as  it  is  em- 

*  Quotations  in  the  New  Testament,  by  Prof.  C.  H.  Toy, 
of  Harvard  Divinity  School. 


PALESTINE   IX   THE   ROMAN   PERIOD  37 

bodied  ia  the  Triple  Tradition  of  the  Synoptical 
Gospels. 

Samniary  and  Conclusion. 

A  land  barren  by  nature  save  the  long,  green 
meadows  between  the  highlands  and  the  sea-coast, 
and  save  also  the  northern  province  of  Galilee  at 
certain  seasons,  whose  fields  and  meadows  were 
brightened  with  a  myriad  flowers,— redeemed  in 
part  from  its  natural  sterility  under  the  impulse  of 
the  potent  necessities  of  its  inhabitants,  until  its 
terraced  hill-sides  were  beautified  by  groves  of 
olive-trees,  pomegranates,  and  clustering  vineyards, 
—a  little  land,  isolated  by  nature,  yet  by  its  posi- 
tion made  the  highway  between  the  great  nations 
of  antiquity;  a  people  of  warm  southern  tempera- 
ment and  Semitic  intensity  of  religious  devotion, 
cherishing  in  their  hearts  the  lofty  conception  of 
the  unity  of  God,  though  narrowed  by  the  exclu- 
siveness  of  their  education  and  life ;  a  people  di- 
vided into  various  sects  upon  the  great  problems 
of  the  reality  of  a  future  life,  and  of  duty  in  ref- 
erence to  obedience  to  the  mandates  of  a  foreign 
ruler;    a    people  cherishing    the  memories  of    a 
former  greatness  due,  as    they  thought,  to    the 
might   and  favor  of   Yahweh  their   God,  whose 
chosen  nation  they  regarded  themselves,  and  hop- 
ing for,  believing  in,  a  coming  Deliverer  anointed 
to  do  his  work ;  a  people  full  of  lofty  sentiment, 
of  narrow  but  intense  religious  aspirations,  writh- 
ing under  the  oppression  of  a  hated  alien  ruler 
whose  power  they  were  impotent  to  undermine,— 
Buch  a  land,  such  a  people,  were  Palestine  and  the 


38         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Jews  nineteen  hundred  years  ago.  To  such  an 
environment  and  heritage  of  social  and  religious 
ideas  was  born  the  peasant  boy  of  Galilee  whom 
Christendom  to-day  worships  as  the  incarnate 
Deity.  Bearing  in  mind  these  facts  in  contem- 
poraneous history,  and  that  wonderful  provision 
of  nature  whereby  the  finer  elements  of  a  hundred 
generations  sometimes  combine  in  a  single  for- 
tunate organization,  born  in  the  fulness  of  time, 
may  we  not  expect  to  discover  that  the  fruit  upon 
the  vine  in  autumn  is  not  a  more  natural  and  in- 
evitable result  of  that  universal  providence  which 
is  manifested  in  the  working  of  all  eternal  and 
immutable  laws  than  was  the  appearance,  charac- 
ter, and  teaching  of  the  Nazarene  Prophet  in  his 
time  and  among  these,  his  people?  Such,  I  be- 
lieve, will  be  your  unbiassed  verdict,  when  we 
have  considered  together  the  nature  of  his  teach- 
ing and  the  circumstances  of  his  environment. 


n. 

SOCIETY  AND  RELIGION  IN  THE  ROMAN 
EMPIRE. 

At  the  advent  of  Christianity,  the  civilized 
world  was  at  peace.  A  quarter  of  a  century 
before  the  birth  of  Jesus,  the  gates  of  the  temple 
of  Janus  in  Rome,  which  were  always  open  when 
the  Empire  was  involved  in  war,  were  closed  by 
the  order  of  Augustus  Caesar,  for  the  third  time 
since  the  foundation  of  the  Eternal  City.  Rome 
was  mistress  of  the  world,  and  had  conquered 
peace  by  the  might  of  her  invincible  arms. 

During  the  previous  century,  she  had  extended 
her  power  in  the  East  under  the  great  command- 
ers, Sulla,  LucuUus,  and  Pompey.  Asia  Minor 
had  been  subdued,  and  all  its  vast  territory  was 
reduced  to  a  tributary  condition.  The  king  of 
Armenia  had  been  defeated.  Syria  and  Palestine 
submitted  to  Pompey,  and  were  converted  to 
Roman  provinces.  On  the  north-east,  the  Par- 
thian successors  of  the  ancient  Persian  empire 
alone  maintained  their  independence,  having  thus 
far  resisted  all  attempts  at  Roman  invasion  and 
conquest. 


40         A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Rome  before  the  Csesars.— The  Servile  Inanrrec* 

tion. 

Rome,  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  nominally 
a  republic,  was  never  one  in  reality.  While  the 
government  was  republican  in  form,  the  greater 
part  of  the  population  of  the  capital  and  chief 
cities  were  slaves,  deprived  of  all  civil  rights.  In 
the  year  73  B.C.,  this  class  rose  iu  insurrection, 
led  by  Spartacus,  a  Thrakian  gladiator.  For 
nearly  three  years,  they  maintained  a  partially 
successful  warfare  against  the  veteran  armies  of 
the  republic,  a  large  part  of  Italy  being  in  the 
hands  of  the  servile  classes  during  this  period. 
It  was  not  until  several  powerful  armies  had  been 
defeated,  and  forces  of  great  magnitude  were 
brought  into  the  field,  that  the  insurgents  were 
overthrown.  Such  was  the  might  of  an  oppressed 
class,  struggling  for  equal  political  rights  against 
the  most  powerful  nation  that  the  world  had  ever 
known.  To  these  people,  the  religion  of  Jesus, 
with  its  communistic  spirit  and  its  doctrine  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  soon  to  be  established  on  the 
earth, — the  inheritance  of  the  poor  and  the  op- 
pressed,— would  come  with  the  blessing  of  renewed 
hope  and  the  promise  of  ultimate  deliverance.* 

Pompey,  victorious  in  the  East,  and  successful 
in  his  conflicts  with  the  pirates  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, was  master  of  Rome  for  a  time,  but  soon 

•The  early  Fathers  of  the  Church,  as  will  be  seen  here- 
after, like  the  Fathers  of  the  American  republic,  failed  to 
make  a  practical  application  of  these  principles  to  the 
existing  institution  of  slavery,  but,  on  the  concrary,  often 
directly  recognized  and  sustained  it.  Nevertheless,  the 
principles  existed  as  a  leaven,  working  for  the  ultimate 
regeneration  of  society. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION  4i 

had  to  contend  with  the  rival  talents  and  ambition 
of  Julius  Caesar.  The  first  Triumvirate,  compris- 
ing Pompey,  Crassus,  and  Caesar,  subsequently 
became  arbiters  of  the  destinies  of  the  growing 
empire  and  virtual  masters  of  the  world.  Caesar, 
appointed  to  command  the  armies  of  Rome  in 
Gaul,  completed  the  conquest  of  that  country,  and 
extended  his  victorious  arms  into  Germany  and 
Britain.  His  subsequent  history,  his  conflicts  with 
and  triumphs  over  his  rivals,  his  final  attainment 
of  the  imperial  power,  which  he  held  until  his 
assassination  in  the  year  44  B.C.,  these  facts  are 
too  familiar  to  the  students  of  history,  and  too 
little  germane  to  our  subject,  to  require  further 
elaboration. 

Rome  under  tSie  Caesars.— The  Jewish  Colonr> 

Rome,  the  queen  city  of  the  world,  at  this  time 
contained  a  population  variously  calculated  at 
from  a  million  and  a  half  to  eight  million  souls. 
The  latter  estimate  is  doubtless  greatly  exagger- 
ated :  probably  about  two  millions  would  approxi- 
mate the  actual  number  of  inhabitants.  This 
population  included  a  considerable  colony  of  Jews, 
many  of  whom  had  emigrated  to  Rome  during 
the  earlier  years  of  Pompey's  supremacy.  The 
Hebrew  colonists  dwelt  in  a  mean  quarter  of  the 
city,  beyond  the  Tiber;  and,  on  account  of  their 
social  exclusiveness  and  the  character  of  their 
religion,  they  were  regarded  with  jealousy  and 
suspicion  by  the  masses  of  the  native  population. 
Nevertheless,  they  were  industrious  and  frugal, 
and  were  generally  entitled  to  the  credit  of  being 


42  A    STUi>Y   OF    PKIJIITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

good  citizens.  Julius  Caasar  recognized  their 
virtues,  and  granted  them  many  favors.  This 
Jewish  colony  subsequently  became  the  nucleus  of 
the  Christian  Church  in  Rome,  and  the  earliest 
assemblies  of  Christians  in  the  metropolis  were 
held  in  the  Jewish  quarter  of  the  city. 

Under  the  imperial  sway  of  the  Caesars,  Rome 
attained  a  power  and  magnificence  never  previ- 
ously or  subsequently  equalled.  Cicero,  Catiline, 
Crassus,  Pompey,  the  younger  Cato,  Scipio, — these 
are  a  few  of  the  great  names  among  her  citizens 
during  the  century  preceding  the  Christian  era. 
For  two  hundred  years,  Greece  had  been  the 
political  subject  of  Rome,  but  had  itself  subjected 
the  Eternal  City  intellectually,  and  through  it  the 
intelligence  of  the  world,  giving  to  the  great 
empire  its  official  language  and  its  highest  de- 
velopment of  art,  literature,  and  philosophy.  Four 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  the  philosophy 
of  Greece  had  reached  its  culmination  in  the 
transcendent  genius  of  Plato,  whose  far-reaching 
thought  has  rendered  all  subsequent  ages  his 
debtors.  The  influence  of  the  Platonic  philosophy 
upon  the  development  of  Christian  doctrine  was 
not  inconsiderable,  and  will  constitute  an  impor- 
tant element  in  our  later  discussions. 

Religion  under  the  Empire.— Roman  Tolerance. 

Rome  was  more  cosmopolitan  and  tolerant  than 
any  other  nation  of  antiquity  which  had  sought  to 
extend  its  domain  by  conquest.  The  genius  of 
Greece,  on  the  contrary,  had  been  pre-eminently 
dogmatic  and  intolerant.    Even  her  most  distin- 


SOCIETY   AND    RELIGION  43 

guished  philosophers  were  expatriated,  or  sub- 
jected, like  Sokrates,  to  the  penalty  of  death,  if 
their  teachings  appeared  to  conflict  with  any  of 
the  leading  features  of  the  popular  theology.  Her 
religion,  accordingly,  did  not  readily  coalesce  with 
the  alien  faiths  of  her  conquered  provinces.  The 
attempt  to  introduce  it  by  force  into  Palestine  had 
already  resulted  in  the  revolt  of  the  Asmoneans 
and  the  final  overthrow  of  the  Greek  dynasties 
which  had  governed  that  country  since  its  conquest 
by  Alexander.  Rome,  on  the  contrary,  did  not 
seek  to  overthrow  the  religions  of  her  subject 
peoples,  but  tolerated  and  protected  them,  unless 
they  opposed  her  secular  dominion,  often  assimi- 
lating them  in  part  into  her  own  cultus  with  their 
foreign  rites  and  ceremonies.* 

She  had  early  adopted  the  gods  of  Greece,  whose 
intenser  personality  thau  that  of  the  ancient 
Roman  deities  attracted  the  worship  of  the  masses 
of  the  people ;  while  the  priests,  philosophers,  and 
educated  classes  were  initiated  into  the  mysteries 
of  the  "Sacred  Drama  of  Eleusis,"  which  prom- 
ised consolations  for  the  trials  of  the  present  life, 
and  taught  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  and 
the  life  to  come.  In  the  Eleusinian  cultus,  the 
Greek  and  later  Roman  faith  reached  their  highest 
ethical  development.  Promises  of  future  reward 
were  offered  to  the  initiated  on  certain  conditions, 
not  merely  of  ceremonial  observance,  but  also  of 
personal  purity  and  piety,  of  justice  and  right- 
doing  between  man  and  man.     The  doctrine  of 

•See  Reaan'8  English  Conferences  for  an  nteresting 
discussion  of  tUe  influence  of  the  Roman  religion  upoD 
early  Christianity. 


44  A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

a  spiritual,  pantheistic  monotheism  seems  to  have 
been  taught,  of  which  the  objective  anthropomor- 
phism of  the  popular  mythology  offered  no  sug- 
gestion. Absolute  chastity  was  required  of  the 
priests  during  the  celebration  of  the  mysteries ; 
and  celibacy  was  made  obligatory  to  certain  orders 
of  the  priesthood,  from  the  time  of  the  assump- 
tion of  the  priestly  office.  Abstinence  from  certain 
articles  of  food  was  required  of  the  celebrants. 
Initiation  was  preceded  by  a  rite  of  purification 
resembling  Christian  baptism ;  and  a  sacred  meal, 
similar  to  the  eucharist,  constituted  a  portion  of 
the  ceremonial.  On  the  nineteenth  day  of  the 
great  annual  festival,  a  solemn  sacrifice  was  offered 
to  Asklepios,  the  god  who  had  died,  and  was  subse- 
quently resuscitated  as  lakchos.  The  familiar-rep- 
resentations of  lakchos  as  a  young  child,  with  his 
mother,  Persephone, —  sometimes  identified  with 
the  Egyptian  deities,  Horos  and  Isis,  in  the  later 
Roman  period, — douotless  helped  to  suggest  the 
familiar  conception  of  the  Virgin  and  child  in  early- 
Christian  art ;  and  the  mystic  representation  of  the 
resurrection,  long  familiar  to  the  favored  initiates 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  prepared  the  way  for  the 
acceptance  of  the  mythical  legend  of  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ.  "The  idea  of  the  saviour  Daim6n 
sprung  from  the  mother  goddess,"  says  Lenormant, 
"is  essentially  a  Pelasgic  and  popular  conception."  * 
It  was  connected  with  the  rites  of  Eleusis  from 
their  earliest  period,  and,  together  with  the  univer- 

*A  most  complete  and  interesting  account  of  the  Myste- 
ries may  be  found  in  a  series  of  articles  by  Prof.  Fran9oi8 
Lenormant,  entitled  "The  Eleusinian  Mysteries:  A  Study 
of  Religious  History,"  in  the  Contemporary  Review  of  May, 
July,  et  seq.    1880. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION  45 

sal  belief  in  the  iacarnatioQ  of  the  gods,  was  a 
forerunner,  if  not  a  causal  prototype,  of  the  subse- 
quently developed  Christian  doctrines  of  the  mirac- 
ulous birth  and  the  divine  incarnation  of  Jesus. 

Oriental  Influences.— Mithracism. 

About  the  year  180  A.D.,  the  Emperor  Commo- 
dus  introduced  into  Rome  the  rival  mystic  and 
ritualistic  worship  of  the  Persian  god  Mithra,  or 
Mithras.    The  new  cultus  speedily  became  popular 
among  the  literary  and  fashionable  classes,  and 
obtained  public  recognition  until  the  time  of  Con- 
stantine.      Subsequent  even  to  the  secular  ascen- 
dency of  Christianity,  it  was  handed  down  from 
age  to  age  through  the  esoteric  order  of  the  Rosi- 
crucians  and  the  secret  societies  of   the  Middle 
Ages.     The  ceremonies  observed  in  the  worship  of 
Mithra   are   described  by  TertuUian,  a  Christian 
writer  of  about  200  A.D.,  as  strongly  resembling 
the  sacraments  of  the  Church.     The  initiates  were 
admitted  by  a  rite  of  baptism.     They  worshipped 
in  little  chapels,  similar   to  Christian  churches. 
They  made  use  of  a  species  of  eucharist,  eating 
the  sacred  bread,  draSna,  accompanied  by  solemn 
religious  ceremonies,  while  the  neophyte  was  tested 
by  twelve  consecutive  penances,  or  tortures.     As  in 
the  Eleusinian   Mysteries,  the  doctrines  of   a  life 
after  death,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  a 
future  state  of   rewards  and  punishments,  were 
taught  by  Mithracism.     The  influence  of  this  new 
religion  upon  the  thought  and  literature  of   the 
time  was  absorbing  and   all-pervasive.     "I  some- 
times aUow  myself  to  say,"  says  Renan,  "that,  had 


46  A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

not  Christiauity  taken  the  lead,  Mithracism  would 
have  become  the  religion  of  the  world."  The 
Gnostics  doubtless  borrowed  largely  from  Mith- 
racism ;  and  the  popular  sects  of  Judaism  are  also 
thought  to  have  derived  many  of  their  rites  and 
doctrines  from  kindred  mysteries,  through  Baby- 
lonia. The  indirect  influence  of  these  conceptions 
upon  the  current  and  subsequent  development  of 
Christian  doctrine  was  doubtless  considerable.* 
The  leading  Mithraic  festival,  celebrated  at  the 
winter  solstice,  identical  in  time  with  the  Roman 
Saturnalia,  was  ultimately  assimilated  by  Chris- 
tianity, and  recognized  as  commemorative  of  the 
birth  of  Jesus,  which  the  apostolic  tradition  had 
assigned  to  the  spring-time  instead  of  the  25th 
of  December.  The  cross  was  a  Mithraic  symbol 
long  before  the  advent  of  Christianity.f  It  also 
constituted  one  of  the  eight  altar  implements  of 
the  Buddhists,  and  from  very  early  times  had  been 
recognized  as  the  sacred  symbol  of  the  god  Nilus 
in  Egypt.  It  is  also  of  frequent  recurrence  in 
those  buried  cities  of  the  Troad  which  Dr.  Schlie- 
mann  has  recently  exhumed. 

Decay  of  tbe  ICeligious  Sentiment. — Eaheineriam. 

The  latter  days  of  the  Republic  and  the  earlier 
decades  of  the  Empire  were  noteworthy  for  mani- 
fest evidences  of  the  decay  of  the  religious  sen- 
timent.     The   intellectual    classes    in    Italy  and 

♦Mithracism  is  treated  incideutally  by  Renan,  English 
Cmiferences,  and  by  Dean  Milman,  IHstorj/  of  Christianity. 
See  also  Lecky,  and  article  in  Encyclopaeclia  Britannica. 

tFor  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  cross  as  a  religious  symbol, 
see  The  Symbolical  Language  of  Ancient  Art,  by  Richard 
Payne  Knight,  A.M. 


SOCIETY  AND   RELIGION  47 

Greece,  including  the  priesthood,  had  become 
almost  completely  divorced  from  any  vital  belief 
in  the  current  systems  of  mythology,  based  largely 
upon  magic  and  divination,  which  constituted  the 
popular  religion.  Repelled  from  these  supersti- 
tions, they  found  their  solace  in  the  pursuit  of 
philosophy  and  the  investigation  of  the  esoteric 
doctrines  of  the  mysteries.  The  theories  of  Eu- 
hemeros,  a  Greek  writer  who  endeavored  to  trace 
the  myths  and  stories  of  the  gods  to  a  natural 
source  in  purely  human  incidents,  obtained  wide 
acceptance  among  the  educated  classes.  Euhe- 
meros  taught  that  the  gods  were  originally  great 
kings  or  heroes,  whom  their  admirers  had  deified. 
All  that  is  related  of  them,  he  said,  is  but  the 
exaggeration  and  glorification  of  common  events, 
which  we  may  readily  trace  back  to  their  historical 
sources.  Thus,  when  Krouos  is  said  to  have 
swallowed  his  own  children,  and  to  have  been 
dethroned  by  Jupiter,  we  are  to  understand  that 
we  have  the  allegorized  history  of  a  king  in  ancient 
times,  when  human  sacrifices  were  offered,  who 
was  dethroned  by  another  king,  who  at  the  same 
time  abolished  these  sacrifices.  The  conception 
of  Euhemeros  early  passed  over  from  Greece  to 
Rome.  His  book  was  translated  into  Latin,  and 
his  views  speedily  became  predominant.  So  gen- 
eral was  the  contempt  for  the  superstitions  of  the 
popular  mythology  that  it  is  reported  that,  when 
two  members  of  the  priestly  hierarchy — the  augurs 
or  haruspices — met  in  public,  it  was  with  the 
utmost  difficulty  that  they  could  restrain  their 
laughter. 


48         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

II  was  an  easy  transition  from  the  doctrine  of 
Euhemeros  to  the  adoration  of  living  men  as  gods. 
The  emperors  demanded  and  received  divine 
honors,  a  custom  which  may  have  been  suggested 
by  a  similar  one  long  prevalent  among  the  Hindus, 
and  recognized  in  their  code  as  a  sacred  obliga- 
tion. We  read  in  the  Institutes  of  Manu :  "  Even 
though  a  child,  the  king  must  not  be  treated 
lightly,  from  an  idea  that  he  is  a  mere  mortal. 
No :  he  is  a  powerful  divinity  who  appears  in 
human  shape."*  A  survival  of  this  custom,  trans- 
mitted to  the  Eastern  branch  of  the  Christian 
Church,  still  prevails  in  Russia,  where  the  czar,  or 
Caesar,  is  addressed  in  the  popular  catechism — 
prepared  by  the  government  and  which  every 
child  is  compelled  to  learn — as  "our  god  on  earth." 
The  transition  from  these  beliefs  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  Divine  Incarnation  as  promulgated  by 
Christianity  would  evidently  be  easy  and  natural. 

Revival  of  Paganism.— Commerce  and  Ciriliza- 

tion. 

This  doctrine,  indeed,  in  its  pre-Christian  form, 
appears  to  have  been  directly  connected  with  a 
marked  change  which  was  observable  in  the  tone 
of  religious  sentiment  throughout  the  empire  from 
about  the  time  of  the  advent  of  Christianity.  Dur- 
ing the  years  of  peace  which  succeeded  the  assump- 
tion of  imperial  power  by  Augustus  Caesar  there 
occurred  a  noteworthy  revival  of  the  dormant  relig- 
ious feeling  among  the  people.  This  tended  to  as- 
sume the  form  of  the  veneration  of  the  sacred  city 

♦Manu  VII.,  iv.,8.  See  also  Early  Laws  and  Citstoma, 
by  Sir  Henry  Sumner  Maine. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION  49 

itself, — of  Rome,  now  the  mistress  of  the  civilized 
world, — and  of  the  emperor  as  her  incarnate  repre- 
sentative. Statues  of  the  emperor  appeared  every- 
where, and  received  the  adoration  of  the  populace. 
Altars  dedicated  to  the  genius  of  Rome  were  set  up 
at  the  cross-roads  throughout  Italy  and  in  many  of 
the  provinces.  The  Jews  alone  steadily  repelled 
this  form  of  worship,  as  they  also  rejected  the 
related  doctrine  of  the  divine  incarnation  of  Jesus. 
Nor  was  this  revival  of  the  religious  sentiment 
the  only  significant  event  of  this  long  period  of 
peace.  Commerce,  which  had  previously  struggled 
against  the  conflicting  interests  and  jealousies  of 
alien  States,  now  extended  its  beneficent  iufluences 
without  hindrance  among  the  friendly  provinces  of 
the  mighty  empire,  carrying  with  it  material  pros- 
perity and  a  genuine  cosmopolitan  spirit,  sowing 
everywhere  the  seeds  of  brotherhood  and  peace.  No 
political  economist  of  the  "American  School,"  fortu- 
nately, had  yet  arisen  to  sound  the  praises  of  high 
protective  or  prohibitory  tariffs,  or  to  raise  a  craven 
and  selfish  protest  against  "competition  with  the 
pauper  labor"  of  the  neighboring  provinces.  The 
only  obstacles  which  this  growing  spirit  of  frater- 
nity among  the  nations  had  to  combat  were  the 
physical  diflBculties  of  overcoming  the  separating 
conditions  of  time  and  space,  and  the  local  preju- 
dices, religious  and  political,  of  nations  which  were 
not  included  under  the  protection  of  the  eagles  of 
Rome.  So  important  was  this  new  impetus  to  the 
commercial  spirit  to  the  future  of  Christianity  that 
it  may  be  affirmed  in  general  terms  that  the  subse- 
quent progress  of  the  new  religion  was  co-extensive 


60         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRI8TIANITY 

with  the  limits  of  commercial  freedom.  The  con- 
fines of  the  Roman  Empire  became,  practically,  the 
boundaries  of  Christian  propagandism.  The  out- 
lying nations  which  had  not  been  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  Roman  dependencies — with  the  ex- 
ception of  those  whose  civilization  was  of  later 
growth — have  never  been  permanently  converted 
to  the  Christian  faith. 

The  Stoic  Philosophy. 

The  most  remarkable  ethical  movement  of  the 
period  now  under  consideration  may  doubtless 
be  discovered  iu  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  Stoic 
Philosophy,  especially  in  its  influence  upon  the 
lives  and  public  careers  of  the  "five  good  emper- 
ors," Nerva,  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  the  Antonines. 
Introduced  into  the  Roman  Empire  from  Cyprus 
by  Zeno  soon  after  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  its  germs  were  not  improbably,  like  those 
of  Christianity,  of  Semitic  origin.*  At  first,  it 
attracted  little  popular  notice,  and  subsequently 
drew  public  attention  only  to  be  regarded  as  an 
enemy  to  the  state  religion,  in  consequence  of 
which  it  experienced  a  period  of  persecution  and 
martyrdom  which  preceded  aud  temporarily  ri- 
valled that  which  subsequently  befell  the  Christians. 
Its  leading  advocates  and  teachers  were  of  stainless 

*Zeno  was  himself  of  Phoenician  birth,  a  native  of 
Citmm  in  Cyprus,  a  city  populated  in  part  from  Phoe- 
nicia, o  "A  striking  feature  in  post-Aristotelian  philoso- 
phy," says  Zeller,  "...  is  the  fact  that  so  many  of  its 
representatives  come  from  Eastern  countries,  in  which 
Greek  and  Oriental  modes  of  thought  met  and  mingled. 
. . .  Next  to  the  later  Neo-Platonic  school,  this  remark  is 
of  none  more  true  than  the  Stoic."— TAe  Stoics,  Epicureans, 
and  Sceptics,  by  Dr.  E.  Zeller,  Professor  in  the  University 
of  Heidelberg,    p.  35  et  seq. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION  51 

personal  reputation,  and  its  doctrines  embodied 
the  purest  principles  of  self-abnegation  and  altru- 
istic morality.  Its  disciples  were  animated  by  a 
lofty  patriotism  and  a  fine  spirit  of  benevolence 
toward  their  fellow-men  of  every  social  condition, 
a  spirit  which  conflicted  with  the  despotic  impulses 
of  Caligula,  Claudius,  and  Nero  as  inevitably  as 
it  sustained  and  directed  the  good  emperors  during 
that  succeeding  interval  which  Gibbon  terms  "the 
period  in  the  history  of  the  world  during  which 
the  condition  of  the  human  race  was  the  most 
happy."  In  its  ethical  and  humane  tendencies,  it 
prepared  the  way  for  the  precepts  of  the  Christian 
gospel,  though  its  noteworthy  freedom  from  the 
contamination  of  popular  superstitions  and  from 
the  metaphysical  mysticism  of  the  current  philoso- 
phies unfitted  it  for  general  popular  acceptance  in 
the  age  in  which  it  appeared. 

"Equality  and  the  abstract  idea  of  the  rights  of 
man,"  says  Renan,  "were  boldly  preached  by  Stoi- 
cism." The  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the 
poor  and  the  oppressed  was  an  ever-present  pm'- 
pose  in  the  minds  of  its  disciples.  It  was  Trajan, 
the  friend  of  the  Stoics,  acting  doubtless  under  the 
benign  infiuence  of  the  pure  teachings  of  this  >.,. 
philosophy,  and  not  a  Christian  emperor,  who  first 
established  orphan  asylums  in  Rome.  It  was  An- 
toninus Pius  who  founded  additional  asylums  for 
poor  young  girls,  in  honor  of  his  wife,  the  Empress 
Faustina,  whom  he  loved  so  well.  Christianity,  in 
its  public  charities,  did  but  assume  and  continue  a 
work  which  had  originated  under  the  influence  of 
Stoicism;  yet  we  hear  it  proclaimed  continually, 


52         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

and  recently  by  a  religious  teacher  no  less  eminent 
and  liberal  than  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  that  the 
earliest  institutions  for  public  charity  were  estab- 
lished by  the  Christian  Emperors.* 

It  is  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  present  here  a 
complete  exposition  of  the  doctrines  of  Stoicism. 
It  is  suflBcient  to  direct  attention  to  it  as  a 
noteworthy  moral  force  in  the  centuries  imme- 
diately succeeding  and  following  the  advent  of 
Christianity,  antedating  the  new  religion  in  the 
promulgation  of  many  of  its  humane  and  ethical 
principles.  The  system  which  proclaimed  the 
doctrine  of  human  equality,  and  which  honored 
Epictetus,  the  slave,  as  one  of  its  worthiest  rep- 
resentatives and  apostles,  was  surely  not  devoid  of 
that  democratic  principle  which  afterward  com- 
mended the  Christian  religion  to  the  oppressed 
peoples  of  Europe.  Had  it  presented  its  doctrines 
in  a  more  popular  form  and  consented  to  compro- 
mise with  current  superstitions,  the  face  of  history 
during  the  succeeding  centuries  might  have  been 
widely  changed.f 

E^pt  nnder  the  Greeks  and  Romanst 

Passing  now  in  thought  from  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Rome  to  the  shores  of  Africa,  we  find 
Egypt  a  subject  nation,  long  shorn  of  its  ancient 
pre-eminence    and    power.      Five   hundred    years 

*Rev.  Xewenhatn  Hoare,  of  London,  late  chaplain  to  the 
Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  i~  tho  author  of  an  interesting 
pamphiet  showing  that  hospitals  for  the  afflicted  existed 
many  centuries  before  Christianity. 

t  An  admirable  popular  presentation  of  the  doctrines  of 
Stoicism  may  be  found  in  F.  May  Holland's  Reign  of  the 
Stoics.  See  also  Kenan's  Marciis  Aurelius,  and  standard 
works  on  the  history  of  philosophy. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION 


53 


before,  it  had  been  conquered  by  the  Persians; 
and  for  more  than  a  century  it  remained  a  Persian 
province.  Subsequently,  for  a  second  period,  it 
was  subjected  by  the  Persian  arms.  Under  the 
influence  of  Zoroastrianism,  the  latent  dualism  in 
its  ancient  religion  had  been  developed.  The  sun- 
god  Seth,  the  old-time  physical  antagonist  of 
Osiris,  took  on  the  moral  depravity  of  the  Persian 
Ahriman,  and  became  the  prototype  of  the  Hebrew 
Satan  and  the  Christian  Devil.  In  the  esoteric 
doctrines  of  the  priesthood  were  prefigured  many 
of  the  metaphysical  notions  of  the  Gnostics  and  of 
the  orthodox  Christian  theology. 

In  the  year  332  B.C.,  Egypt  was  conquered  by 
Alexander  the  Great;   and  for  a  thousand  years 
thereafter,  in  its  intellectual  development,  it  re- 
mained essentially  a  Greek  province.    Alexander 
founded  the  city  of  Alexandria,  which  contamed 
a  composite  population  of  Greeks,  Egyptians,  and 
Jews.    It  speedily  became  one  of  the  great  capitals 
of  the  world,  and  the  chief  centre  of  Greek  culture 
and  civilization.     After  the  death  of   Alexander, 
Egypt  passed  under  the  rule  of  the  Ptolemie3,-a 
succession  of  rulers  of  Macedonian  extraction,  to 
which  dynasty  belonged  the  celebrated  Cleopatra, 
who  reigned  jointly  with  her  brother  in  the  year 
30  B.C.,  at  the  time  of  the  Roman  conquest. 

The  Greek  influence  effected  not  merely  a  politi- 
cal, but  also  a  social  and  intellectual  revolution  in 
Egypt.  Its  religious  and  literary  life,  as  well  as  its 
art  and  architectural  development,  had  been  hin- 
dered and  restrained  by  the  rigid  sacerdotalism  of 
the  ancient  regime.    Together  with  political  servi- 


54         A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAXITY 

tude,  Egypt  derived  from  the  Greeks  and  Romans 
a  larger  measure  of  mental  liberty  than  she  had 
before  enjoyed,  the  influence  of  which  was  mani- 
fested in  a  new  and  wonderful  intellectual  life 
which  centred  in  the  Alexandrian  schools.  The 
popular  religion  of  the  Roman  Empire  commingled 
with  the  old  historic  faith  of  the  country.  The 
gods  of  Egypt  were  identified  with  those  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  foreign  notions  were  projected  into 
the  ancient  religion, — a  tendency  which  resulted 
in  intellectual  confusion,  and  ultimately  in  bring- 
ing the  popular  mythologies  into  contempt  among 
the  thinking  classes  of  the  people.  The  fragment 
of  the  ancient  Egyptian  race,  however,  though 
powerless  politically,  still  clung  to  their  ancestral 
faith,  which  awaited  the  universalizing,  solvent, 
and  assimilative  influence  of  Christianity  to  com- 
pel its  final  disintegration.  The  remnants  of  the 
indigenous  race,  known  to  us  as  the  Kopts,  were 
early  converts  to  the  new  religion  ;  and  Alexandria 
became  an  important  Christian  bishopric. 

Alexandrian    Influence     on     Christianitf.— Philo 

JTndaens. 

The  subject  of  the  relations  of  the  religion  of 
ancient  Egypt  to  the  Hebrew  cultus  is  one  of 
exceeding  interest,  but  here  calls  for  no  extended 
treatment.  The  large  colony  of  Jews  in  Egypt  had 
long  since  adopted  the  Greek  language,  which  they 
employed  not  only  in  their  daily  intercourse,  but 
also  in  the  worship  of  the  synagogues  and  the  cer- 
emonies of  their  religion, — the  ancient  Hebrew 
faith  as  modified  in  Judaism.     They  had   even 


SOCIETY  AXD   RELIGION  55 

transformed  a  forsaken   temple  of  the   Egyptian 
cat-goddess,  Pasht,  at  Leontopolis,  into  a  copy  of 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,— a  proceeding  which  was 
not  regarded  with  favor  by  the  Jews  of  Palestine, 
who  viewed  with  increasing  distrust  and  jealousy 
the  influences  proceeding  from  their  brethren  in 
Egypt.     In  Alexandria,  under  the  patronage,  it  is 
said,  of  the  reigning  Ptolemy,  the  Hebrew  Script- 
ures had  been  translated  into  Greek.     This  trans- 
lation, the  Septuagint,  was   frequently  used   and 
quoted  by  the  Christian  Fathers,  and  furnished  an 
invaluable  aid  to  the  introduction  and  promulgation 
of  the  new  religion.     Those  social  and  commercial 
influences  which  we  have  already  noted  as  prevai] 
ing  throughout  the  Roman  Empire,  that  tended 
subsequently  to  promote  the  spread  of  Christianity, 
were    notably    present    in    this    new   metropolis. 
Alexandria  was  a  great  commercial   centre,   her 
population  being  mainly  devoted  to  manufactures 
and  trade.     The  common  people  among  the  Jews 
had  learned  of  the  skilled  workmen  of  Egypt  the 
secrets  of  their  crafts,  and  for  mutual  protection 
had  associated  themselves  in  guilds  like  the  mod- 
em trades-unions,  the  members  of  which  engaged 
to  support  each  other  when  out  of  work.* 

The  influence  of  Alexandria,  in  bringing  to- 
gether people  of  diverse  races  and  religions,  in 
promoting  a  cosmopolitan  spirit  in  religion  and 
philosophy,    in    sustaining    commerce    and    thus 

•It  i3  noteworthy  that  manv  of  the  social  influences  tend- 
ine  to  the  amelio'ration  of  the  condition  of  the  laboring 
VWiT,  which  are  commonly  assumed  to  have  received  their 
original  impetus  from  Christianity,  are  traced  by  the  im- 
partial historian  to  pre-Christian  times. 


56         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

bringing  distant  parts  of  the  empire  into  closer 
relations,  in  hastening  the  decay  of  the  ancient 
faiths  and  furnishing  material  and  proselytes  for 
the  new,  was  of  the  greatest  significance  in  the  his- 
tory of  early  Christianity.  The  Alexandrian  school 
of  philosophy,  which  attempted  to  fuse  into  a  single 
system  Oriental  mysticism,  Jewish  intuitionalism, 
— the  doctrine  of  a  divine  revelation, — and  the 
metaphysical  idealism  of  Plato ;  which  culminated 
during  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era  in 
Neo-Platonism, — the  final  form  and  product  of 
Greek  philosophy, — and  the  influence  of  which  was 
predominant  in  the  formation  of  the  dogmatic 
theology  of  the  Christian  Church,  had  an  origin 
almost  contemporary  with  the  beginnings  of  Chris- 
tianity. Its  earliest  representative  was  Philo  Ju- 
dseus,  a  Greek-speaking  Jew,  a  Pharisee  by  belief 
and  association,  though  by  descent,  it  is  said,  of 
the  priestly  family  of  Aaron*  In  the  philosophy 
of  Philo,  Judaism  first  escaped  from  the  bondage 
of  its  national  exclusiveness,  and  admitted  that 
spiritual  truth  was  discoverable  elsewhere  than  in 
the  Hebrew  writings.  This  admission,  however, 
was  not  full  and  explicit,  but  was  accompanied  by 
the  historically  indefensible  claim  that  the  truths 
of  the  Platonic  philosophy  were  themselves  derived 
from  the  writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets. 
The  philosophy  of  Philo  was  an  attempt,  by  means 
of  an  elaborate  system  of  allegorical  interpretation, 
to  discover  these  abstruse  metaphysical  dogmas  in 
the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 

•Philo  was  a  contemporary  of  Jesus,  bom  probably  some 
twenty  or  thirty  years  before  the  Nazarene  prophet,  and 
dying  some  years  later  than  Jesus. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION 


sr 


Philo's  teaching  was  based    upon  that  Oriental 
dualism  which,  originating  perhaps  in  the  later 
development    of    Zoroastrianism,  had   penetrated 
Judaism  and  the  religion  of  Egypt  after  the  Per- 
sian conquests,  and  found  its  clearest  philosophical 
expression  in  the  doctrines  of  Plato.     It  conceived 
an  absolute  separation   and  antagonism  between 
spirit  and  matter;  between  the  Infinite  High  and 
Holy  One,  whose  nature  was  purely  subjective  and 
spiritual,  and  the  objective  universe.     How,  then, 
could  the  universe  be  created,  since  there  was  this 
infinite  separation  between  God  and  matter  ?    This 
was  the  problem  which  Philo  attempted  to  solve, 
in  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  the   Scriptures 
and  the  doctrine  of  Plato.    Upon  the  familiar  lan- 
guage of   Genesis,  "And  God  said.  Let  there  be 
light,"  he  based  his  theory  of  the  creative  Word, 
—the  Logos*    Not  the  infinitely  pure  and  spirit- 
ual deity,  accordingly,  but  the  Logos,  an  emana- 
tion from  the  supreme  God,  was  the  creator  of  the 
universe.     Philo  did  not  absolutely  personify  the 
Logos,  nor  identify  it  with   any  historical  indi- 
vidual, as  in  the  later  Christian  development  of 
the  doctrine.      His  thought  appears  to  hover  be- 
tween the  conception  of  the  Logos  as  an  attribute 
—a  purely  metaphysical  idea,  similar  to  the  ideas 
of  Plato— and  its  "more   complete   personification. 
The  Logos   was  the  Demiourgos,  the  shaper  of 
primeval  matter;   the  first  begotten  Son  of  God, 

•  This  doctrine,  as  we  have  seen,  badai'ready  penetrated 
Jadaism  from  the  East,  and  was  used  by  the  Rabbis  of 
Palestine  in  their  Aramaic  commentaries  on  the  Scnpt- 
nres  This  nse  was  pro oably  known  to  Philo,  and  may 
Save  helpid  to  suggest  his  theory  of  the  common  origin 
of  the  Hebrew  writmgs  and  the  Platomc  phaosophy. 


58         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITT 

the  shadow  and  seeming  portrait  of  God,  by  means 
of  which,  as  by  an  assumed  instrument,  the  world 
was  made;  the  heavenly  food  of  the  soul,  from 
whom  all  eternal  instructions  and  wisdoms  flow ; 
the  fountain  of  wisdom;  heavenly  and  immortal 
nourishment :  such  are  the  descriptive  expressions 
in  the  writings  of  Philo,  many  of  them  strikingly 
like  the  familiar  teaching  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.* 

"He  strains  every  nerve  toward  the  highest 
divine  Logos,  ...  in  order  that,  drawing  from  that 
spring,  he  may  escape  death  and  win  everlasting 
life.f  .  .  .  Nothing  is  more  luminous  and  irradiat- 
ing than  the  divine  Logos,  by  the  participation  in 
which  other  things  .dispel  darkness  and  gloom, 
earnestly  desiring  to  partake  of  the  living  Light.^ 
. . .  The  stamp  of  the  seal  of  God  is  the  immortal 
Logos.§ .  .  .  The  divine  Logos  is  free  from  all  sins, 
voluntary  and  involuntary.  .  .  .  Those  who  have 
knowledge  of  the  truth  are  properly  called  the 
sons  of  God  :  ||  he  who  is  still  unfit  to  be  named 
the  son  of  God  should  endeavor  to  fashion  him- 
self to  the  first-born  Logos  of  God.  ...  It  is  im- 
possible for  the  love  of  the  world  and  the  love  of 
God  to  co-exist."  TT  It  is  hardly  possible  to  conceive 
that  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Canonical  Gospel 
was  not  familiar  with  these  expressions  drawn 
from  the  writings  of  Philo,  or  that  his  identifica- 
tion of  Jesus  with  the  Logos  was  not  based  upou 
the  then   current    teachings  of   the   Alexandriaa 

♦  See  Mangey's  ed.  of  Philo's  Works,  vol.  i.,  pp.  308, 106, 
482,  560.    Compare  John  i.-xiv.,  3;  vi.,  35,  etc. 
tCompare  John  vi.,  40.  t  Compare  John  i.,  4,  5-9. 

§  Compare  John  vi.,  27.  II  Compare  John  i.,  12. 

IT  Compare  John  xvii.,  9-14,  etc. 


y 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION 


59 


philosophy.  Of  the  further  development  of  this 
doctrine  in  the  systems  of  the  Gnostics  and  the 
orthodox  Christian  theology,  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion to  speak  hereafter. 

Carthage  and  Phcenicia,— their  Gifts  to  Civiliea- 

tioii. 

Four  centuries   before    the   Christian  era,  the 
great  Punic  or  Carthaginian  empire  had  possessed 
all  the  coast  of   Africa  west  of  Egypt,  and  con- 
trolled the  greater  number  of  the  islands  of  the 
Western  Mediterranean.    It  had  inherited  from  its 
Phoenician  founders  the  traits  of  a  great  commer- 
cial nation,  and  was  one  of  the  first  countries  in 
the  world  to  substitute  sailing  vessels  for  galleys 
propelled  by  oars.     A  century  and  a  half  before 
the  Christian  era,  this  nation  was  virtually  extin- 
guished.    All  that  remained  of  it  was  the  power- 
less subject  of  Rome.      So   little   had    Carthage 
bequeathed  to  the  world,  that  we  know  less  of  her 
history  than  of    any  other  nation  of   antiquity. 
Her  religion  was  borrowed  from  Phoenicia.    Baal, 
Ashtoreth,  and  Melkarth,  gods  of  the  fierce  and 
destructive  powers  of  nature,   were  her  deities ; 
and,  as  in  the  parent  country,  they  were  worshipped 
with  sensual  and  barbarous  rites  and  bloody  sac- 
rifices, often  of  human  victims.     The  gentler  and 
humaner  religion  of  Rome  was  a  pleasing  substi- 
tute for  this  cruel  barbarism.     The  new  Roman 
city  of  Carthage,  founded  by  Augustus  C^sar,  grew 
rapidly,  but  never  attained  the  commercial  promi- 
nence of  its  predecessor.    It  became  an  important 
Christian  bishopric  early  in    the   third  century. 


60         A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Among  other  notable  names  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  Carthaginia  furnished  that  of  Augustine, 
whose  influence  was  predominant  in  the  formation 
of  the  Christian  theology.* 

Phoenicia,  with  its  great  commercial  cities.  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  had  reached  the  zenith  of  its  power 
eight  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  and 
had  now  long  been  falling  into  decay.  It  had 
been  conquered  by  Alexander  the  Great,  by  whose 
armies  Tyre  was  reduced  to  ashes,  many  of  its 
inhabitants  were  slain,  and  the  remainder  were 
sold  as  slaves.  Though  subsequently  rebuilt,  it 
never  regained  its  former  commercial  importance. 
Phoenicia  lacked  that  supreme  ethical  element  in 
its  civilization  which  alone  suffices  to  insure  per- 
manence in  the  life  of  nations.  Apart  from  the 
commercial  spirit  which  it  transmitted  to  other 
nations,  there  was  little  in  its  example  worthy  to 
live  in  history.  No  important  remains  of  a  Phoeni- 
cian literature  have  been  preserved  to  us,t  though 
that  country  modified  and  transmitted  to  Europe 
from  Egypt  the  vehicle  of  all  modern  literature, — 
the  alphabet.  Phoenicia  was  a  nation  of  shop- 
keepers. Its  morals,  religion,  official  stations,  as 
well  as  its  goods,  were  for  sale  to  the  highest  bidder. 

*  May  not  some  of  the  barbarous  features  of  this  theology 
be  traceable  to  the  indefinable,  but  none  the  less  positive 
influence  of  survivals  of  this  earlier  theological  barbarism  ? 

tThero  is,  nevertheless,  considerable  indirect  evidence 
that  PhOBiiicia  was  not  without  a  distinctive  and  charac- 
teristic philosophy  of  indigenous  growth  and  strong  Se- 
mitic peculiarities.  Speaking  of  the  Greek  and  Roman 
Empires  in  the  centuries  immediately  preceding  the  Chris- 
tian era,  Ritter  declares,  "The  wisdom  of  the  Magi,  of  the 
Egyptians,  and  of  the  Phoenician  priests  and  the  Jews  soon 
became  famous."— /fistory  of  Ancient  Philosophy,  by  Dr. 
Heinrich  Ritter.    Vol.  iv.,  p.  18. 


SOCIETY   AND   RELIGION  61 

Conquered  by  the  Romans  in  the  year  64  B.C.,  its 
life  and  civilization  were  assimilated  into  the 
greater  life  of  the  Western  world,  and  it  ceased  to 
exist  as  a  nation. 

The  Keltic  Conimuoities.— The  Draids  and  their 
Religion. 

Spain,  Gaul,  and  Britain,  nations  of  Western 
Europe,  were  annexed  to  the  Roman  Empire 
during  the  half-century  preceding  the  advent  of 
Christianity.  Spain  soon  became  thoroughly  Ro- 
manized, and  remained  for  many  years  one  of  the 
chief  centres  of  Roman  literature  and  civilization. 
The  Keltic  element  predominated  in  its  population, 
as  also  in  Gaul  and  Ireland.  At  this  period,  Spain 
and  Gaul  swarmed  with  Roman  burgesses  and 
merchants.  It  was  almost  impossible  for  a  native 
of  Gaul  to  transact  a  piece  of  business  without  the 
intervention  of  a  Roman.  Roman  farmers  and 
graziers  were  busy  introducing  improved  methods 
of  agriculture, — an  occupation  for  which  the 
Keltic  peoples  had  never  manifested  any  fondness. 
Their  principal  pursuits  were  navigation  and  pas- 
toral husbandry.  They  were  the  first  people  who 
regularly  navigated  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  inland  Kelts,  whose  domains  extended  back 
into  the  western  districts  of  Switzerland  and 
Germany,  were  mainly  occupied  in  breeding  and 
rearing  domestic  animals.  They  were  everywhere 
a  people  of  rude  tastes,  and  literature  and  the  arts 
were  in  a  very  low  state  among  them.  The  politi- 
cal structure  of  the  Keltic  communities  was  that 
of  a  loosely  compacted  confederation,  tending  to 


62         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

feudalism.  Its  basis  was  the  clan-canton,  organ- 
ized with  a  governing  prince  or  chief,  a  council  of 
elders,  and  a  community  of  freemen  capable  of 
bearing  arms.  All  non-combatants  were  excluded 
from  citizenship.  Women  were  held  in  so  low  an 
estimate  that  they  were  ranked  with  slaves,  the 
laws  permitting  the  torture  of  these  two  classes, 
but  prohibiting  the  torture  of  freemen. 

The  Keltic  priesthood,  known  as  the  Druids, 
united  all  Gaul  and  the  British  Isles  in  a  common 
religious  brotherhood.  It  constituted  a  compact 
organization,  the  chief  of  which,  a  sort  of  pope, 
was  elected  by  a  convocation  of  priests,  as  the 
pope  of  Rome  is  now  chosen  by  the  college  of 
cardinals.  Priests  were  exempt  from  taxation  and 
military  service.  They  held  annual  councils,  and 
administered  a  kind  of  governmental  jurisdiction 
over  the  people.  They  were  permitted  to  inflict 
capital  punishment  by  sacrificing  condemned 
criminals  in  their  religious  ceremonies.  Bodies  of 
human  victims  often  smoked  on  the  same  sacrifi- 
cial altars  with  those  of  beasts.  The  Druids  thus 
constituted  a  sort  of  ecclesiastical  state  or  theoc- 
racy, and  ruled  over  an  unintelligent  and  believ- 
ing people  similar  to  the  Irish  peasants  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  The  word  "Druid  "  is  derived  by  the  best 
philologists  from  two  Keltic  roots  meaning  "God- 
speaking,"  which  indicates  a  belief  in  supernatural 
inspiration  similar  to  that  claimed  for  the  Hebrew 
prophets.  The  Druidical  religion  inculcated  the 
worship  of  one  supreme  Being,  but  encouraged  also 
the  veneration  of  fetiches.  A  sacred  fire,  kindled 
with  certain  religious  ceremonials,  was  reverenced 


SOCIETY  AND   KELIGIOX  63 

as  a  symbol  of  the  sun.  Circular  temples,  open  at 
the  top  to  admit  the  sunlight,  were  dedicated  to 
the  solar  deity.  Their  religious  rites  were  often 
celebrated  in  sacred  groves  of  oak. 

The  Druids  taught  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life, 
and  a  state  of  rewards  and  punishments.  They 
professed  "to  reform  morals,  secure  peace,  and 
encourage  goodness."  "They  assumed,"  says 
Caesar,  "to  discourse  of  the  hidden  nature  of 
things,  of  the  extent  of  the  universe  and  of  the 
earth,  of  the  forms  and  movements  of  the  stars, 
and  of  the  power  and  rule  of  the  gods."  They 
practised  astrology,  divination,  and  magic.  Relics 
found  among  Druidical  remains  in  Ireland  are 
thought  to  have  constituted  parts  of  astronomical 
instruments  designed  to  illustrate  the  motion  and 
phases  of  the  moon.  A  sacred  character  was 
ascribed  to  the  oak,  mistletoe,  hyssop,  vervain, 
and  marshwort.  These  plants  were  plucked  only 
after  ceremonial  ablutions  and  offerings  of  bread 
and  wine.  This  primitive  religion  was  supplanted 
in  part  by  that  of  the  Romans,  and  subsequently 
the  Keltic  populations  easily  assimilated  the  forms 
and  doctrines  of  Latin  Christianity,  many  of  which 
were  prefigured  in  the  older  faith. 

Character  aud  Religion  of  the  Teatonic  Peoples. 

Concerning  the  Teutonic  tribes  of  Northern 
Europe,  little  was  known  before  the  time  of  Caesar. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era,  they 
constituted  a  horde  of  semi-barbarous  peoples, 
many  of  them  agriculturists  and  having  some 
fixed  settlements.     Their  chief   occupations,  how- 


64         A   SlUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ever,  were  hunting,  the  care  of  cattle,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  arms.  They  were  brave  and  independent 
by  nature,  but  given  to  the  vices  of  gambling  and 
intoxication,  the  evil  influences  of  which  largely 
counteracted  the  nobler  traits  which  might  have 
raised  them  earlier  out  of  barbarism. 

Their  population  was  divided  into  nobles,  free- 
men, and  serfs.     The  freemen  elected  their  chiefs, 
whom  the  Romans  often  called  kings.     The  Teu- 
tons held  women  and  aged  people  in  high  regard. 
They  honored  chastity  no  less  than  valor,   and 
presented  a  picture  of  domestic  life  more  perfect 
and  beautiful  than  could  be  found  elsewhere  in 
the  Western  world.      This  characteristic,  with  a 
robust  mentality  and  ingrained  love  of  personal 
liberty,  were  the  chief  gifts  of  this  people  to  the 
civilization  of  the  future ;    gifts  which  led  them 
as  naturally  and  inevitably  to  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity,  and  through  it    to  Rationalism,   as  the 
characteristics  of  the  Kelts  led  them  to  Catholi- 
cism.    "It  was  the  rude  barbarians  of  Germany," 
says  Guizot,  "who  introduced  this   sentiment   of 
personal    independence,   this    love    of    individual 
liberty,  into    European    civilization;    it  was  un- 
known among  the  Romans,  it  was  unknown  to  the 
Christian  Church,  it  was  unknown  in  nearly  all 
the  civilizations  of  antiquity."     He  might  have 
added  with  truth.  It  is  the  most  powerful  and 
characteristic  element  of  our  modern  civilization. 
The  religion  of  the  Teutons  was  in  part  devel- 
oped from  the  Nature-worship  of  the  primitive 
Aryan  peoples,  with  an  intermixture,  apparently, 
of  Semitic  or  Babylonian  elements,  an  inheritance, 


SOCIETY  AND   BELIGION  65 

perhaps,  from  the  Turanian  tribes,  whom  they 
supplanted  in  Europe.  In  part,  doubtless,  it  was 
of  later  indigenous  growth.  It  was  essentially  a 
polytheistic  system,  including  the  worship  of  Odin 
or  Thor,  and  his  consort  Fria,  or  Frigga,  Tiu,  the 
heaven-god,  corresponding  with  Zeus,  Jupiter,  and 
the  Vedic  Dyatls-pitar,  and  many  other  subordi- 
nate deities.  Priests,  bards,  and  sacred  groves 
were  dedicated  to  this  worship.  The  doctrine  of 
a  future  life  in  Walhalla  was  taught.  The  gods 
were  considered  mortal  like  human  beings,  as 
with  the  Buddhists.  Domestic  animals,  including 
horses,  and  sometimes  human  victims,  were  offered 
as  sacrifices.  The  religion  of  the  Teutons  was 
less  influenced  by  the  Pagan  cultus  of  Rome  than 
that  of  the  Kelts,  during  its  transition  to  Chris- 
tianity. 

Besnme  and  Conclasion. 

At  the  advent  of  Christianity,  Greece,  through 
the  conquests  of  Alexander,  had  already  contribu- 
ted to  the  civilization  of  the  future  her  wealth  of 
art,  literature,  and  philosophy,  the  sum  of  which 
is  known  as  Hellenic  culture.  Rome,  under  the 
mighty  power  of  the  Caesars,  was  bestowing  upon 
the  Western  world  the  blessing  of  the  most  per- 
fect code  of  laws  which  was  then  in  being,  and 
uniting  the  nations  in  a  common  brotherhood  of 
citizenship.  Phoenicia  had  long  before  communi- 
cated the  commercial  spirit  to  Carthage  and  to 
Greece,  and  through  them  to  Rome,  thus  bringing 
distant  peoples  into  closer  communion ;  a  mighty 
and  too  little  recognized  influence  in  promoting 
civilization  and  brotherhood. 


66         A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHKISTIANITY 

Rome,  with  her  State  religion, — a  hollow  ecclesi- 
asticism  to  the  more  intelligent, — stood  ready,  at 
the  demand  of  self-interest,  to  dethrone  Jupiter, 
and  to  pass  over  the  temples  of  her  gods,  her 
images,  her  festivals,  the  paraphernalia  of  her 
priests,  and  the  title  of  Pontifex  Maximus,  then 
held  by  Caesar  as  the  head  of  the  Pagan  cultus, 
to  that  new  religion  which,  through  the  supremacy 
of  the  empire  among  the  nations  of  the  world, 
was  soon  to  make  such  mighty  strides  toward 
universal  dominion.  Her  sculptured  heads  of 
Jupiter  were  to  descend  to  posterity,  rechristened 
by  the  name  of  St.  Peter ;  and  her  little  god  Vati- 
canus,  whose  function  it  was  to  watch  over  the 
first  lisping  of  infants,  was  to  bestow  his  name 
upon  the  Vatican, — the  palace  of  the  Christian 
popes. 

The  great  Aryan  monotheism  of  Zoroaster  had 
met  in  Babylon  the  great  Semitic  monotheism  of 
the  Hebrew  prophets,  and,  together  with  some 
more  questionable  benefactions,  had  blessed  it 
with  its  gift  of  a  belief  in  a  life  beyond  the  grave, 
and  thus  prepared  the  way  for  one  of  the  leading 
doctrines  of  Christianity.  The  word  "Father"  as 
applied  to  the  Supreme  Being  had  entered  Juda- 
ism from  that  other  contact  with  the  Aryan  races 
through  the  Greeks,  and  was  used  by  Jewish 
Rabbis  of  the  century  preceding  the  birth  of 
Jesus.  The  Hebrew  doctrine  of  the  Messiah  had 
taken  a  new  and  more  personal  form  under  the 
influence  of  contemporary  Persian  notions,  and  the 
stimulus  of  foreign  oppression.  Millennial  expec- 
tations imported  from  Babylon  were  "in  the  air." 


SOCIETY  AND   KELIGIOX 


67 


The  writers  of  the  Book  of  Daniel  and  the  apoc- 
ryphal Book  of  Enoch  had  applied  the  term  "the 
Son    of    Man"— a  common    designation    of    the 
prophets— to  designate  the  coming  Messiah.    Jon- 
athan ben  Uzziel,  a  Jewish  Rabbi  and  contempo- 
rary of   Jesus,  was  interpreting  various  passages 
in  the  Old  Testament  with  the  phrase  Memra,  "the 
Word,"  derived  probably  through   Babylon  from 
India.    Hillel  had  abeady  proclaimed  the  "Golden 
Rule"  as  the  substance  and  foundation  of  Judaism. 
The  ancient    religion  of    Egypt   was   without 
vitality,    but    preserved    a    lingering    existence. 
Some  of  her  gods  had  passed  over  to  Rome ;  the 
figures  of   Isis  and  Horos,  and  Persephone   and 
lakchos  were  prefiguring  the  familiar   Christian 
representation  of    the  Virgin    and    Child.     The 
Greek  gods  were  emigrating  to  Egypt,  Phoenicia, 
Assyria,  Gaul,  and   Spain,  as  well    as   to   Rome. 
The  Eternal   City  welcomed    the    new  gods    as 
heartily  as  she  despised  them  all,  both   new  and 
old.     The  recognition  of  the  old  gods  under  new 
names  — the  transfer  of  functions  and  characteris- 
tics from  one   to  another— was  leading   the   way 
through  scepticism  to  monotheism.    In  Rome,  the 
gods  were  said  to  be  more  numerous  than  the 
people.     In    Athens,  every  street   corner  had   its 
statue  of  a  deity.    The  world  was  weary  of  con- 
flict, unsatisfied  with   existing    philosophies,  dis- 
gusted with  priestly  arrogance,  sophistry,  and  in- 
sincerity, but  longing  for  a  religion  which  would 
proclaim  the  growing  faith  in  the  Fatherhood  of 
God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  Man. 

From  the  time  of  Alexander,  war  had  been  the 


68  A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

most  potent  civilizer,  drawing  together  the  nations, 
with  their  diverse  civilizations  and  religions,  into  a 
closer  unity,  to  which  each  contributed  its  peculiar 
gift,  which  the  world  received  and  assimilated  into 
its  common  life.  Looking  back  through  the  cen- 
turies over  the  broad  sweep  of  the  entire  horizon  of 
this  ancient  world,  above  the  conflict  of  arms,  the 
groans  of  the  poor,  the  dying,  and  the  oppressed, 
the  loud  laughter  of  the  Roman  augurs  at  the  ab- 
surdity of  their  rites,  the  sneers  of  sceptical  philos- 
ophy-mongers who  believed  neither  in  the  gods 
nor  in  the  moral  law,  —  may  we  not  behold  the 
working  of  that  Power,  eternal  and  invincible, 
that  in  all  ages  makes  for  righteousness,  civili- 
zation, and  brotherhood?  Do  we  not  perceive  the 
growing  intelligence  and  virtues  of  man,  triumph- 
ing over  his  wrath  and  wickedness  and  folly,  al- 
ready building  up  the  better  kingdom  of  the 
future,  —  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  which  is 
also  the  Republic  of  Man  ?  Shall  we  not  see  in 
the  peasant  child  of  Galilee  the  "Son  of  Man" 
indeed,  —  the  natural  product  of  his  race  and  time, 
participating  in  some  of  its  errors  and  super- 
stitions, but  ready  to  speak  the  vital  word  for  hu- 
manity fearlessly  and  unfalteringly,  willing  to  die 
rather  than  falter  or  recant?  All  the  circum- 
stances of  this  period  point  to  the  conclusion  that 
old  uses  were  outgrown  ;  a  new  era  was  about  to 
dawn  in  the  life  of  humanity,  —  the  product  of 
easily  discernible  and  perfectly  natural  causes.  A 
fateful  hour  had  arrived  in  the  history  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  it  did  not  seek  in  vain  for  its  man. 


in. 

SOURCES  OF  INFORMATION". 

Like  Zoroaster,  Buddha,  and  the  great  religious 
teachers  of  India,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  left  no  written 
word.  Absorbed  in  the  pressing  labors  of  the 
moment,  anticipating  no  extended  future  for  the 
existing  order  of  society,  knowing,  probably,  no 
language  but  his  native  Galilean  tongue,  his  im- 
passioned appeals,  his  charming  illustrative  para- 
bles, his  brief  and  sententious  aphorisms,  have 
been  transmitted  to  us  through  the  medium  of 
oral  tradition,  collected  and  put  in  writing  some 
time  after  his  death.  In  the  extant  documents, 
the  original  tradition  is  intermingled  with  a 
mythical  and  legendary  accretion  of  subsequent 
origin  and  development,  and  translated  into  an 
alien  tongue.  We  have  absolutely  no  contempo- 
rary record  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus, 
either  in  or  out  of  the  writings  of  the  New 
Testament. 

£arly  Christian  liiteratare. — Tiie  Story  of  the 
mannscripts. 

The  earliest  of  these  writings,  in  the  order  of 
their  composition,  are  the  Epistles  of  Paul.  These 
and  the  other  genuine  Epistles  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment and  the  Apostolic  Fathers  throw  valuable 


70         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAXITT 

light  upon  the  primitive  phases  of  Christian 
belief ;  but,  beyond  the  mere  fact  that  they  assume 
the  previous  existence  and  tragical  death  of  Jesus, 
and  give  currency  to  the  early  tradition  of  his 
resurrection,  they  afford  us  absolutely  no  informa- 
tion concerning  him.  Paul  quotes  but  once  the 
language  of  Jesus, — a  single  phrase  in  connection 
with  a  reference  to  the  commemoration  of  the 
last  supper:  "This  cup  is  the  new  covenant  in 
my  blood:  this  do  ye  as  often  as  ye  drink  it  in 
remembrance  of  me."     (I.  Cor.  xi.,  25.) 

For  information  concerning  the  life  and  teach- 
ings of  Jesus,  therefore,  we  are  confined  exclu- 
sively to  the  four  Gospels.*  Testimony,  corrobo- 
rative of  his  historical  verity,  may,  as  already 
indicated,  be  derived  from  the  New  Testament 
Epistles  and  the  writings  of  the  early  Christian 
Fathers,  who  everywhere  assume  it  as  an  unques- 
tioned fact,  and  also  from  a  few  fragmentary 
allusions  in  the  works  of  Jewish  and  Pagan  writers 
in  the  first  and  early  part  of  the  second  centuries. 
The  destructive  theory  which  doubts  the  existence 
of  Jesus  as  an  historical  personage,  and  regards 
the  gospel  stories  as  entirely  mythical,  has  no 
support  whatever  in  the  history  and  literature  of 
the  early  Christian  centuries.  Of  the  reasons  for 
the  lack  of  frequent  allusions  to  Jesus  by  Jewish 
and  Pagan  writers  of  the  period,  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  hereafter. 

♦Perhaps  an  exception  should  also  be  made  in  favor  of 
the  recently  published  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles 
and  the  extaut  fragnieuts  of  the  "Gospel  of  the  Hebrews," 
■which  are  doubtless  as  old  or  older  than  the  Gospels,  and 
in  general  confirm  the  testimony  of  the  Synoptics.  Refer- 
ence will  hereafter  be  made  to  these  docuuients. 


SOURCES   OF   INFOKMATION  71 

For  testimony  concerning  the  date  and  reliability 
of  the  gospel   histories,  apart  from  the  internal 
evidence  of  the  documents,  we  must  depend  almost 
exclusively  upon  the  writings  of  the  early  Fathers 
of  the   Church,  sustained  or  corrected    by  such 
pertinent  facts  as  may  be  derived  from  the  secular 
history  of  the  period.     We  have  also  certain  ex- 
tant documents,  mainly  anonymous  or  pseudony- 
mous,  known   as    the   Apocryphal  Gospels*  and 
Epistles,  which  were  regarded  as  genuine  by  some 
portion  of  the  early  Christian   communities,  and 
which  are  valuable  for  comparison  with  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament.     Some  of  them  are  doubt- 
less as  old  as  or  older  than  our  canonical  Gospels, 
and  they  throw  considerable  light  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  doctrine  and  the  differentiation  of  heretical 
sects  from  the  main  body  of  Christian  believers  dur- 
ing the  earliest  Christian  centuries.    In  this  lecture, 
it  is  proposed  to  examine  the  bearings  of  this  lit- 
erature in  all  its  branches  upon  the  question  of  our 
actual  information  concerning  the  life  and  teach- 

•  The  names  of  some  of  the  early  Apocryrhal  Gospels,  as 
„S  writiiiiis  of  the  I;  atners,  aie  «vs 


72  A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

ings  of  Jesus  and  the  character  of  the  earliest 
Christian  tradition.  A  tolerably  clear  comprehen- 
sion of  this  subject  appears  to  be  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  a  true  historical  estimate  of  the  beginnings 
of  Christianity. 

Character  and  Origin  of  the  Four  Oospels. 

The  four  canonical  Gospels  are  preserved  to  us 
in  extant  manuscripts  of  the  fourth,  fifth,  and 
later  Christian  centuries.  All  of  them  were  origi- 
nally written,  probably,  during  the  second  century 
of  our  era.  Their  authorship  is  unknown,  and, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  the  Third  Gospel, 
it  cannot  even  be  conjectured  with  reasonable 
probability.  Ren  an  supposes  that  Mark  and  Luke 
were  written  in  Rome  and  Matthew  in  Palestine ; 
but  for  these  hypotheses  we  are  obliged  to  rely 
mainly  upon  uncertain  traditions,  sustained  or 
corrected  by  the  known  character  of  the  docu- 
ments themselves.  Tradition  also  asserts  that  1  he 
Fourth  Gospel  was  composed   at  Ephesus,  but  it 

5.  The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  probably  written  during  the 
third  century;  6.  The  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians,  of  very 
early  date;  7.  The  Gospel  of  Peter;  8.  The  Gospel  of  Paul; 
9.  The  Gospel  of  Andrew;  10.  The  Gospel  of  Apelles  ;  11.  The 
Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles.  This  important  docu- 
ment, recently  discovered  by  Bishop  Bryennios  in  the 
Greek  quarter  of  Constantinople,  in  a  manuscript  of  the 
eleventh  century,  from  internal  evidence  must  be  ad- 
judged as  old  or  older  than  any  of  our  canonical  Gospels. 
Its  Chri-tology  is  not  more  developed  than  that  of  the 
Synoptics.  It  terms  Jesui  "the  servant  of  (jod,"  and 
contains  no  allusion  to  the  stories  of  the  miraculous  birth 
or  to  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God.  i2.  The  Gospel  of  Barnn- 
bas;  13.  The  Gospel  of  Basilides,  a  Gnostic  work  of  the 
second  century;  14.  The  Gospel  of  Cerinthus,  also  a 
Gnostic  writing;  15.  The  Gospel  of  the  E;>ionites,  said  to 
have  been  written  in  Aramaic,  and  sometimes  identified 
with  the  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews;  16.  The  Gospel  of  the 
Encratites;  17.  The  Gospel  of  Eve;  18.  The  Gospel  of 
Hesychius.    These,  as  well  as  the  most  of  the  following, 


SOURCES   or    INFORMATION  73 

presents  strong  internal  evidence  of  Alexandrian 
origin  or  influence.  Prof.  Robertson  Smith  terms 
them  al]  "unapostolic  digests  of  the  second  cen- 
tury." In  the  extant  Greek  version  of  the  earliest 
manuscripts,  we  undoubtedly  possess  the  original 
form  of  these  documents  with  but  little  modifica- 
tion. There  is  no  probability  that  any  of  them 
were  translated  entire  from  the  Aramaic  or 
Hebrew  languages.  Certain  memoranda  in  the 
Aramaic  tongue,  however,  doubtless  existed  prior 
to  the  composition  of  our  Gospels;  and  one  or 
more  of  the  so-called  Apocryphal  Gospels  appears 
to  have  been  written  in  Aramaic.  Among  these 
memoranda,  there  seems  to  have  been  a  very  early 
collection  of  the  logia  or  sayings  of  Jesus,  unac- 
companied, probably,  by  any  historical  data,  the 
compilation  of  which  was  currently  attributed  to 
the  Apostle  Matthew.  The  First  Gospel  presents 
strong  internal  evidence  of  manufacture  or  com- 
position out  of  several  primitive  documents,  and  it 
is  probable  that  its  author  incorporated  a  transla- 
tion of  this  early  collection  of  the  sayings  of  Jesus 

were  Gnostic  works.  19.  The  Gospel  of  Marcion.  Some 
orthodox  writers  regard  this  as  a  mutilated  form  of  our 
Third  Gospel,  but  it  was  douhtless  of  considerably  earlier 
date,— a^  old  or  older  than  any  of  our  Gospels.  20.  The 
Gospel  of  Jude ;  21.  The  Gospel  of  Judas  Iscariot ;  22.  The 
Gospel  of  Matthias;  23.  The  Gospel  of  Merinthus ;  24. 
The  Gospel  according  to  the  Nazarenes;  25.  The  Gospel 
of  Perfection  ;  26.  The  Gospel  of  Philip ;  27.  The  Gospel  of 
Srythianus;  28.  The  Gospel  of  Tatian;  29.  The  Gospel  of 
Thaddeus ;  30.  The  Gospel  of  Truth,  used  by  the  Valentin- 
ians,  a  school  of  the  (xrostics ;  31.  The  Gospel  of  Valen- 
tinus;  32.  The  Gospel  of  Life;  33.  The  Gospel  of  Longinus. 
These  and  other  unenumerated  Gospels  were  all  certainly 
in  existence  before  the  synod  of  Laodicea,  365  A.D.,  "the 
first  Christian  assembly  at  which  the  canon  was  made  the 
subject  of  a  special  ordinance."  Some  of  them  are  un- 
questionably of  as  early  or  even  of  earlier  date  than  any 
of  those  subsequently  called  Canonical. 


74         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

nearly  or  quite  entire  in  his  manuscript.  Ewald, 
one  of  the  most  acute  and  thorough  of  our  modern 
Biblical  critics,  distinguishes  no  less  than  twelve 
documents  which  he  believes  to  have  been  worked 
up  into  our  Synoptical  Gospels. 

Divergent  Traititioas  of  the  Fourth  and  the 
Synoptical  Oospels. 

In  the  first  three  Gospels,  we  find  many  points 
of  agreement, — a  general  concurrence  as  to  the 
leading  features  in  the  public  career  of  Jesus,  and 
a  marked  similarity,  often  amounting  to  identity, 
of  language,  which  indicates  the  common  use,  in 
part,  of  an  earlier  oral  or  written  tradition.  Be- 
tween the  synopsis  or  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
first  three  Gospels  and  that  of  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
however,  there  is  a  divergence  so  complete  as  often 
to  amount  to  irreconcilable  opposition.  It  is  im- 
possible to  harmonize  the  manifest  and  radical 
differences  of  these  two  traditions.  All  attempts 
in  this  direction  involve  the  greatest  violence  to 
the  natural  dictates  of  the  rational  judgment. 

The  Synoptical  Gospels  represent  the  public 
labors  of  Jesus  to  have  occupied  a  period  of  only 
about  one  year,  giving  an  account  of  but  a  single 
visit  to  Jerusalem  during  his  ministry.  The 
Fourth  Gospel  extends  the  period  of  his  public 
ministrations  to  more  than  three  years,  and  repre- 
sents him  as  frequently  travelling  back  and  forth 
between  Galilee  and  Judea.  The  synoptics  as- 
sume that  nearly  all  of  his  miracles  were  wrought 
in  Galilee,  only  one  or  two  being  assigned  to  his 
final  visit  to  Judea.     The  Fourth  Gospel  expressly 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  75 

limits  the  number  of  his  miracles  in   Galilee  to 
four,  and  assigns  nearly  all  the  more  important 
ones  to  the  vicinity  of  Jerusalem.    The  synoptics 
assume  the  prevalence  of  the  belief  in  obsession  or 
possession  by  evil  spirits  among  the  Jews,-a  fact 
which  is  abundantly  confirmed  by  extra-Biblical 
evidence.     Many  of    the   miracles  of   Jesus,  as 
therein  reported,  consist  of  the  alleged  exorcism 
of  these  personal  demons.     The  Fourth   Gospel 
hardly  contains  a  reference  to  this  current  super- 
stition, and  reports  no  miracle  of  this  character. 
The  Synoptical  Gospels  contain  no  reference  to 
the  miraculous  transformation  of  water  into  wine 
at  Cana  of  Galilee  or  to  the  resurrection  of  Laza- 
rus, though    these    most    marvellous  of    all    the 
wonderful  works  attributed  to  Jesus  are  made  the 
corner-stone  and  key-stone  of  the  superstructure 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel  narrative. 

More  significant  even  than  these  differences  is 
the  marked  divergence  in  the  reports  of  the  con- 
versations and  teachings  of  Jesus  in  the  two  tra- 
ditions.   The  synoptics  report  his  words  in  brief 
and  forcible  aphorisms,  illustrated  by  the  apt  and 
striking  use  of  the  parable.    The  style  and  lan- 
guage employed  are  as  individual  and  characteris- 
tic as  those  of  Shakspere  *    The  chief  burden  and 
subject  of  his  discourse  is  the  explanation  and 
illustration  of  his  doctrine  of  the  coming  kingdom 
of  heaven.    In  the  Fourth  Gospel,  he  is  made  to 
discourse  in  long,  mystical   disquisitions,  largely 

•  rnmnare  for  example,  the  parables  of  Jesus  with  those 
of  bSJ or  Buddhalhosa,  or^with  those  preserved  to  us 
in  the  Talmud  and  the  Old  Testament. 


76         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

devoted  to  the  exaltation  of  his  own  personality, 
in  style  and  matter  wholly  unlike  that  of  the 
synoptical  reports.  None  of  the  characteristic 
parables  of  the  first  three  Gospels  appear  in  the 
Fourth,  which,  indeed,  contains  no  proper  example 
of  this  allegorical  method  of  teaching.  In  the 
synoptics,  particularly  in  the  first  two  Gospels,  the 
Jews  appear  as  the  kin  and  people  of  the  writers, 
differing  only  as  those  who  rejected  the  Messianic 
claims  of  Jesus  would  naturally  differ  from  his 
disciples  and  followers.  They  are  represented 
everywhere  with  entire  naturalness.  Their  differ- 
ent sects,  customs,  and  beliefs  are  truthfully  de- 
scribed, as  we  know  them  from  independent 
sources.  The  Fourth  Gospel,  on  the  contrary,  is 
manifestly  the  product  of  one  who  was  not  himself 
a  Jew.  The  Jews  are  spoken  of  in  the  third 
person,  as  an  alien  people,  and  in  a  contemptuous 
tone  as  children  of  the  Evil  One.  The  scribes, 
Sadducees,  and  Herodians,  so  often  introduced  in 
the  synoptical  narratives,  do  not  appear  at  all  in 
the  Fourth  Gospel.  The  natural  and  human  Jesus 
of  the  synoptics  is  displaced  by  one  who  seems 
rather  like  a  ghostly  apparition,  flitting  aimlessly 
to  and  fro  between  Judea  and  Galilee.  He  is  no 
longer  the  "Son  of  Man,"  moving  naturally  among 
his  people,  and  speaking  the  language  of  their 
daily  concern,  but  the  pre-existent  Logos,  whose 
human  parentage  was  an  illusion,  who  existed 
even  before  the  creation  of  the  world,  co-eternally 
with  God  himself.  The  representation  of  God  as 
"our  Father"  and  of  all  mankind  as  his  children, 
so  characteristic  of  the  humane  teaching  of  Jesua 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  77 

in    the   synoptics,   is  supplanted    in  the  Fourth 
Gospel  by  the  everywhere  intruded  assumption  of 
a  special  and  supernatural  relationship  between 
Jesus  and  the  Deity.     The  inclusive  "our  Father 
gives  place  to  the  exclusive  "my  Father." 

Artiflcial  Theology  of  the  Foarth  Gospel. 
The  theology  of   the  synoptics  is  natural  and 
simple,  though  embodying  the  current  anthropo- 
morphic conceptions  of  the  divine  nature.     That 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  on  the  contrary,  is  artificial 
and  dogmatic.    Its  dualism  is  especially  prominent 
and  characteristic.     Jesus,  as  the  divine  Logos, 
wages  war  against  Satan   and  his  emissaries,  as 
Ormuzd  against  Ahriman  in  the  Persian  system. 
Faith  in  his  supernatural  character  and  mission  is 
essential  to  salvation  instead  of  conduct  only,  as  in 
the  synoptical  tradition.     The  last  supper,  in  the 
Fourth  Gospel,  loses  its  natural  interpretation  as 
the  paschal  feast  of  the  Jews,  and  takes  on  a  char- 
acter  which  prefigures  its  subsequent   dogmatic 
importance  as  a  Christian  sacrament.     To  divest 
it  of  its  Jewish  characteristics,  it  is  removed  from 
the  day  of  the  paschal  feast,  the  fourteenth  of  the 
month  Nisan,  to  the  preceding  day;   and  Jesus 
himself  appears   as  a  substitute  for  the  paschal 
lamb,  sacrificed  upon  the  anniversary  of  the  Pass- 
over, instead  of  a  day  later,  as  represented  in  the 
synoptics.      There  are  evidences,   also,  that    tne 
writer  of    the    Fourth    Gospel    was    even    unac- 
quainted with  the  topography  of  Palestine  which 
strongly  favors    the  conclusion  that  the  Apostle 
John  neither  wrote  nor  directly  inspired  it. 


78         A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

These  considerations,  which  might  be  strength- 
ened by  other  internal  evidence,  appear  to  render 
it  impossible  for  us  to  accept  the  Fourth  Gospel  as 
a  correct  representation  of  the  life,  character,  or 
teachings  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  For  a  true 
historical  basis,  -we  must  "searcli  the  Scriptures"  of 
the  synoptics ;  relying  mainly  upon  that  consensus 
of  testimony — those  facts,  ideas,  and  traditions 
which  the  three  writers  report  in  common — known 
to  Biblical  students  as  "The  Triple  Tradition." 
I  have  read  with  care,  and  with  the  respect  due  to 
so  able  and  eminent  an  authority,  the  defence  of 
the  theory  of  the  early  appearance  and  Johannine 
authorship  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  by  Prof.  Ezra 
Abbot ;  but  his  arguments,  though  subtle,  refined, 
and  exceedingly  ingenious,  are  insufficient  to  my 
mind  to  explain  away  these  very  plain  and  evi- 
dent discrepancies  between  this  and  the  synop- 
tical tradition. 

The  only  portion  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  narra- 
tive as  presented  to  us  in  the  accepted  version 
of  the  New  Testament  differing  from  the  synop- 
tics, which  instantly  appeals  to  all  readers  as 
bearing  the  impress  of  the  Jesus  of  the  parables 
and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  is  the  story  of  the 
woman  taken  in  adultery ;  and  this  is  known  and 
admitted  by  the  learned  revisers  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament to  have  formed  no  part  of  the  original  ver- 
sion of  this  document.  It  is  omitted  from  the 
oldest  extant  manuscripts.  It  is,  however,  quoted 
by  early  Christian  writers  from  the  more  primi- 
tive "Gospel  of  the  Hebrews,"  and  doubtless  con- 
stituted a  part  of  an  older  tradition  than  that 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  79 

originally  drawn  upon  by  the  writer  of  the  Logos 
epic* 

The  Patristic  liiteratnre  and    Early  Apocryphal 
Oospels. 

A  correct  understanding  of  the  nature  of  our 
material  for  the  study  of  the  life  and  teachings  of 
Jesus  necessitates  a  brief   inquiry  as  to  the  age 
and  comparative  reliability  of  the  gospel  narra- 
tives.    The  sources  of  our  information  in  this  in- 
vestigation, in  addition  to  such  internal  evidence 
as  the  documents  themselves  may  furnish,  must 
be  sought  in  the  writings  of  the  Christian  Fathers 
of  the  first  three  centuries.    It  is  claimed  by  those 
who  maintain  an  earlier  authorship  of  the  Gospels 
than  the  first  quarter  of  the  second  century  that 
they  are  recognized  and  quoted  by  the  earliest  non- 
canonical  Christian  writers.    From  a  careful  study 
of    the   patristic  literature,   however,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  narratives  or  memoranda   thus 
quoted  were  never  regarded  as  sacred  Scripture  in 
any  such  sense  as  were  the  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament.    It  is  also  clear,  upon  examination, 
that  the  passages  referred  to  are  in  no  instance 
exact  and  literal  excerpts  from  any  extant  manu- 
scripts of  our  Gospels.    Previous  to  the  last  quarter 
of  the  second  century,  moreover,  no  one  of   the 
canonical  Gospels  is  identified  in  the  writings  of 
the  Fathers  by  the  titles  now  prefixed  to  them  :  so 
that,  even  were  the  alleged  quotations  in  complete 

•Renan,  speaking  of  the  irreconcilable  difference  be- 
tween the  Fourth  Gospel  and  the  synoptics,  declares  that 
he  would  "stake  his  future  salvation  upon  it  without  the 
slightest  hesitation."— iJecoHectioTis  of  my  Youth,  by  Er- 
nest Renan. 


80         A   STUJ)Y   OF   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

agreement,  it  would  be  impossible  to  determine 
with  certainty  whether  the  excerpts  were  taken 
from  our  Gospels  or  from  other  documents  whose 
language  was  in  part  identical  with  them. 

Certain  non-canonical  writings,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  undoubtedly  extant,  and  were  quoted 
by  their  titles  before  any  of  the  canonical  Gospels 
were  so  identified.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these 
writings  was  the  "Gospel  of  the  Hebrews,"  frag- 
jaents  of  which  have  been  preserved  to  us  in  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  recently  collected  and  col- 
ated  by  Dr.  Nicholson.  The  "Gospel  of  the  In- 
fancy," preserved  to  us  among  other  of  the  so- 
oalled  "apocryphal"  writings,  was  also  so  quoted  at 
a  very  early  period,  and  was  accepted  by  a  Gnostic 
sect  of  the  second  century  as  of  equal  authority 
and  authenticity  with  our  Fourth  Gospel.  Beside 
the  writings  of  this  character  which  we  still  pos- 
sess, many  others  were  doubtless  in  existence 
which  are  now  lost.  In  support  of  this  fact,  in- 
deed, we  have  the  testimony  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment itself.  The  writer  of  the  Third  Grospel 
declares  :  "Forasmuch  as  many  have  taken  in  hand 
to  set  forth  in  order  a  declaration  of  those  things 
which  are  most  surely  believed  among  us,  .  . .  it 
seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  had  perfect  under- 
standing of  all  things  from  the  very  first,  to  write 
unto  thee  in  order,  most  excellent  Theophilus." 

Besides  forty  or  more  primitive  Gospels,  the  most 
of  them  known  to  us  by  their  titles,  there  were 
also  extant  at  a  very  early  day  a  vast  number  of 
Epistles  attributed  to  the  apostles  and  early  Fath- 
ers of  the  Church,  together  with  such  documents 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  81 

as  the  Acts  of  Peter,  the  Acts  of  Paul,  the  Acts  of 
Andrew,  the  Acts  of  Paul  and  Thecla,  the  Reve- 
lations, respectively,  of  Peter,  Paul,  Bartholomew, 
Cerinthus,  Stephen,  Thomas,  Moses,  and  Esdras, 
the  sibylline  oracles,  and  the  Epistle  of  Christ  to 
Abgarus,  King  of  Edessa,  and  the  reply  thereto. 
Many  of  these  documents  are  quoted  as  genuine 
and  authoritative  in  the  same  writings   of    the 
Fathers  from  which  are  derived  the  supposed  evi- 
dences   of    the    early  existence    of    our  Gospels. 
Some  of  them  are  now  known  to  be  spurious. 
Others  are  doubtless  genuine.    A  number  of  these 
extant  writings  have  been  published  together  as 
the  Apocryphal   New    Testament,   constituting,   as 
affirmed  by  William  Wake,  the  late  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  "a  complete  collection  of  the  most 
primitive  antiquity,  for  about  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  after  Christ."      Whatever  may  be   the  ad- 
judged value  or  worthlessness  of  this  extensive  lit- 
erature in  other  respects,  it  is  important,  as  testify- 
ing to  the  universal  belief  in  the  historical  verity 
of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  during  the  earliest  Christian 
centuries. 

The  Probable  Age  of  the  Canouical  Gospels. 

In  regard  to  the  testimony  of  the  early  Fathers 
of  the  Church,  as  bearing  upon  the  probable  age 
of  the  canonical  Gospels,  Prof.  Davidson  *  asserts 
that  "Papias  (150  A.D.)  knew  nothing,  so  far  as 

we  can  learn,  of  a  New  Testament  canon He 

neither  felt  the  want,  nor  knew  the  existence,  of 

» The  New  Testament  Canon.  By  Samuel  Davidson, 
D.D.,  L.L.D.    See  also  article  in  Encyclopffioia  Bntanmca. 


82         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

inspired  Gospels.  .  .  .  Justin  Martyr's  canon  (150 
A.D.),  so  far  as  divine  authority  and  inspiration 
are  concerned,  was  the  Old  Testament.  ...  In  his 
time,  none  of  our  Gospels  had  been  canonized,  not 
even  the  synoptics,  if,  indeed,  he  knew  them  all. 
Oral  tradition  was  the  chief  fountain  of  Christian 
knowledge."  Clement  of  Rome,  the  earliest  of  the 
Christian  writers  outside  of  the  New  Testament, 
quotes  freely  and  frequently  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  from  other  writings,  probably  apocry- 
phal books  now  lost.  His  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, generally  recognized  as  genuine,  contains  no 
quotation  from  the  New  Testament.  It  alludes, 
however,  to  certain  "words  of  Jesus,  our  Lord," 
which  are  nowhere  to  be  found  in  our  canonical 
writings,  and  which  must  have  been  derived  from 
lost  Gospels  or  from  oral  tradition  :  "Remember 
the  words  of  Jesus,  our  Lord,  for  he  said:  Woe 
unto  that  man.  It  were  good  for  him  if  he  had 
not  been  born,  rather  than  that  he  should  offend 
one  of  mine  elect.  It  were  better  for  him  that  a 
mill-stone  were  hanged  about  him,  and  he  cast 
into  the  sea,  than  that  he  should  pervert  one  of 
mine  elect."  *  The  superficial  verbal  resemblance 
of  this  passage  to  a  familiar  New  Testament  quo- 
tation, and  also  its  notable  variations  therefrom, 
are  evident  at  a  glance.  The  so-called  Clementine 
Homilies  and  Recognitions,  documents  of  doubt- 
ful date  and  authorship,  contain  no  New  Testa- 
ment quotations,  or  passages  claimed  to  be  such. 
The  Apostolic  Canons  and  Constitutions,  formerly 

•The  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians  may  be  found 
entire  in  the  recently  published  Christian  Literature 
Primer,  No.  I.,  "The  Apostolic  Fathers." 


SOURCES   OF   INFORM Al ION 


83 


attributed  to  Clement,  are  now  known  to  be  of 
much  later  date,  probably  as  late  as  the  sixth  cen- 
tury. 

There  are  several    extant  versions  of    epistles 
ascribed  to  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  who  suffered  mar- 
tyrdom,  as   alleged,   about  116   A.D.     They   are, 
however,  of  doubtful  authenticity.      The  shorter 
and  more  probably  genuine  collection  contains  a 
few  quotations  which  bear  some  resemblance  to 
New  Testament  passages ;  but  the  language  is  not 
wholly  identical  with  that  of  the  Gospels,  and  no 
claim  is  made  by  the  author  that  they  are  quoted 
therefrom.     The  Epistle  of  Polycarp  to  the  Philip- 
pians,  generally  conceded  to  be  genuine,  contains 
numerous  passages  which  conservative  apologists 
regard  as  quotations  from  the  canonical  Gospels. 
In  every  instance,  however,  there  are  obvious  devi- 
ations from  the  New  Testament  phraseology.     A 
few  instances  will  enable  the  reader  to  compare 
and  judge  for  himself  : — 

"Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged  ;  forgive,  and 
it  shall  be  forgiven  you ;  be  pitiful,  that  ye  may 
be  pitied;    for  with  the  measure  that  ye  mete 

withal,  it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again 

"Not  rendering  evil  for  evil,  nor  railing  for  rail- 
ing. . .  . 

"Blessed  are  the  poor,  and  they  that  are  perse- 
cuted for  righteousness'  sake ;  for  theirs  is  the  king- 
dom of  God." 

These  passages,  like  those  contained  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  recently  published  Teaching  of  the 
Twelve  Apostles,  present  satisfactory  evidence  of 
the  existence  of  a  very  early  tradition,  in  many 


84         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

respects  similar  to  that  embodied  in  our  Gospels ; 
but  the  manifest  differences  in  language,  together 
with  the  fact  that  they  are  nowhere  referred  to  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  forbid  us  to  receive 
them  as  quotations  therefrom. 

Justin,  who  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  year  167 
A.D.,  evidently    knew   nothing    of    our    Gospels, 
though   he   quotes  from  certain    Memoirs  of  the 
Apostles,  of    uncertain    authorship   and  contents. 
The  only  genealogy  of  Jesus  which  he  recognizes 
is  traced  through  the  Virgin  Mary,  whereas    the 
genealogies  of  Matthew  and  Luke  are  both  traced 
through  Joseph.      The   only  writing  of  the  New 
Testament  certainly  identified  by  him  is  the  Apoc- 
alypse, which   he    attributes   to   "a  certain    man 
whose  name  was  John,  one  of    the  apostles  of 
Christ,  who  prophesied  by  a  revelation  made  to 
him."      Unlike   Papias,  however,  and   the  earlier 
Fathers,  whose  reliance  was  placed  mainly  on  oral 
tradition,  Justin  evidently  depends  upon  writings 
which    he  deems    authoritative,   and  which  con- 
tained much  that  our  Gospels  present,  in  a  slightly 
modified  form.     His  account   of  the  occasion  of 
the  alleged  birth  of  Jesus  in  Bethlehem  agrees,  in 
the  main,  with  that  of  the  Third  Gospel,  and  ig- 
nores the  totally  irreconcilable  tradition   of   the 
First  Gospel.      It  differs  from  Luke,  however,  in 
representing  Jesus  to  have  been  born  in  "a  cave 
near  the  village,"  instead  of  in  a  manger  near  the 
inn  in  Bethlehem.     This  tradition  is  also  preserved 
in  some  of  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  but  in  none  of 
those  declared  canonical.     A  comparison  of  many 
parallel  passages  from  the  writings  of  Justin  and 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  85 

our  Gospels,  made  by  the  author  of  Supernatural 
Religion,  demonstrates  that  Justin's  version  is 
almost  always  the  terser  and  more  abbreviated, 
which  indicates  that  he  drew  probably  from  a 
more  primitive  tradition  than  that  of  the  canoni- 
cal Gospels.*  In  the  writings  of  Hegisippus,  a 
contemporary  of  Justin,  there  are  a  few  similar 
verbal  resemblances  to  the  language  of  the  New 
Testament.  In  no  instance,  however,  is  there 
absolute  identity  of  expression. 

Papias,  bishop  of  Hieropolis,  in  Phrygia,  during 
the  first  half  of  the  second  century,  who  died 
about  167  A.D.,  aud  who  wrote,  probably,  about 
the  middle  of  the  century,  was  the  first  to  mention 
a  tradition  that  Mark  and  Matthew  composed 
accounts  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus.  We 
have  already  quoted  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Davidson 
that  he  knew  nothing  of  inspired  Gospels  or  of  a 
New  Testament  canon.  It  is  evident  also,  from 
his  descriptions,  that  he  could  not  have  known 
our  First  and  Second  Gospels  as  at  present  consti- 
tuted. The  writing  of  Mark,  as  described  by 
him,  was  an  Ebionitic  document,  more  like  the 
pseudo-Clementine  Homilies  than  like  our  Gospel ; 
and  that  of  Matthew  he  asserts  to  have  been 
written  in  Aramaic,  whereas  the  original  of  our 
First  Gospel  was  undoubtedly  written  in  Greek. 
The  writing  known  to  Papias  was  probably  the 
Logia,  or  record  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  ascribed 

*  Dr.  Ezra  Abbot  argues  learnedly  that  our  0-ospels,  and 
especially  the  Fourth,  were  known  to  Justin  Martyr.  His 
arguments,  however,  do  not  appear  conclusive.  The  nu- 
merous alleged  resemblances  to  the  Fourth  Gospel  in  Jus- 
tin's writings  are  more  reasonably  accounted  for  on  the 
supposition  of  bis  acquaintance  wiih  the  writings  of  I'hiio. 


86         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

to  Matthew,  or  some  similar  primitive  document 
which  may  have  served  as  the  basis,  in  part,  of 
our  First  Gospel.  Papias  placed  little  reliance  on 
these  writings,  whatever  they  may  have  been. 
"I  held,"  he  says,  "that  what  was  to  be  derived 
from  books  did  not  profit  me  as  that  from  the 
living  and  abiding  voice." 

The  limits  of  this  discussion  forbid  a  detailed 
examination  of  all  the  passages  which  throw  light 
upon  the  questions  of  the  age  and  authenticity  of 
the  canonical  Gospels.  The  author  of  Supernat- 
ural Religion,  whose  treatment  of  this  subject  is 
most  thorough  and  exhaustive,  and  whose  facts 
have  never  been  successfully  impugned,  has  placed 
side  by  side,  in  the  original  Greek,  all  the  excerpts 
from  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  supposed  to  bear 
upon  this  question,  with  the  corresponding  New 
Testament  passages.  We  may  safely  adopt,  as 
our  own,  his  conclusions :  "After  having  exhausted 
the  literature  and  testimony  bearing  on  the  point, 
we  have  not  found  a  single  distinct  trace  of  any 
one  of  those  Gospels  during  the  first  century  and 
a  half  after  the  birth  of  Jesus.  Only  once  during 
the  whole  of  that  period  do  we  find  any  tradition 
even  that  any  one  of  our  Evangelists  composed 
any  gospel  at  all,  and  that  tradition,  so  far  from 
favoring  our  synoptics,  is  fatal  to  the  claims  of 
the  First  and  the  Second.  .  .  .  There  is  no  other 
reference  during  the  period  to  any  writing  of 
Matthew  or  Mark,  and  no  mention  at  all  of  any 
writing  ascribed  to  Luke.  .  .  .  Any  argument  for 
the  mere  existence  of  our  synoptics,  based  upon 
their  supposed  rejection  by  heretical   leaders  or 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATIOX  b7 

Beets,  has  the  inevitable  disadvantage  that  the 
very  testimony  which  would  show  their  existence 
would  oppose  their  authenticity.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence of  their  use,  however,  by  heretical  leaders, 
and  no  direct  reference  to  them  by  any  writer, 
heretical  or  orthodox." 

The  Earliest  References  to  the  Four  Oospels. 

Irenseus,  bishop  of  Lyons  in  Gaul  from  178  to 
200  A.D.,  was  the  real  founder  of  the  Christian 
canon.  He  was  the  first  to  use  our  four  Gospels 
exclusively.  He  also  accepted  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  thirteen  Epistles  of  Paul  (rejecting 
Hebrews),  the  first  Epistle  of  John,  and  the 
Apocalypse.  Some  of  the  remaining  books  of 
the  New  Testament  he  published  in  an  appendix 
as  of  less  authority,  and  some  he  ignored  entirely. 
Irenseus  thus  explains  why  he  accepted  the  four 
Gospels  and  no  others : — 

"It  is  not  possible  that  the  Gospels  can  be 
either  more  or  fewer  in  number  than  they  are. 
For,  since  there  are  four  quarters  of  the  earth  in 
which  we  live  and  four  universal  winds,  while  the 
Church  is  scattered  throughout  all  the  world,  and 
the  'pillar  and  ground'  of  the  Church  is  the  gospel 
and  the  spirit  of  life,  it  is  fitting  that  she  should 
have  four  pillars  breathing  out  immortality  on 
everv  side  and  vivifying  men  afresh.  .  .  .  There- 
fore, the  Gospels  are  in  accord  with  these  things. 
.  .  .  For  the  living  creatures  are  quadriform,  and 
the  gospel  is  quadriform.  .  .  .  These  things  being 
so,  all  who  destroy  the  form  of  the  gospel  are 
vain,   unlearned,  and  audacious, — those,  I  mean, 


88        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

who  represent  the  aspects  of  the  gospel  as  being 
either  more  in  number  than  as  aforesaid,  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  fewer."  The  argument  is  cer- 
tainly a  remarkable,  if  not  a  convincing,  one  I 

The  Canon  of  Muratori,  of  uncertain  date,  but 
believed  by  conservative  scholars  to  have  been 
contemporary  with  the  writings  of  Irenseus,  also 
recognizes  the  four  Gospels,  and  no  others.  Clem- 
ent of  Alexandria,  TertuUian,  and  the  Christian 
writers  of  the  third  century  generally  did  likewise, 
though  they  differed  greatly  among  themselves  as 
to  the  authenticity  of  other  books  afterward  pro- 
nounced canonical.  The  four  Gospels  are  also 
found  in  the  ancient  Syriac  version  of  the  New 
Testament,  known  as  the  Peshito,  which  Dr.  Ezra 
Abbot*  assigns  to  the  latter  part  of  the  second 
century ;  and  they  were  probably  current  in  North 
Africa  about  this  time,  as  is  evidenced  by  their  ex- 
istence in  the  old  Latin  version.  The  genuineness 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  however,  was  still  denied  by 
a  considerable  section  of  the  Christian  Church,  who 
are  mentioned,  and  of  course  condemned,  by  Ire- 
naeus  and  other  writers  for  their  heresy.  Epipha- 
nius  calls  them,  in  contempt,  'Aloyoi, —  a  term 
which  has  the  double  meaning  of  "deniers  of  the 
Logos"  and  "men  without  reason." 

The  rational  conclusion  upon  the  whole  matter 
appears  to  be  that  the  four  canonical  Gospels  became 
generally  recognized  as  exclusively   authoritative 

*  Dr.  Abbot  quotes  approvingly  from  Norton's  Genuine- 
ness of  tlie  Gospels  tho  opinion  tliat  at  least  sixty  thousand 
copies  of  our  Gospela  were  extant  during  the  lasr,  quarter 
of  the  second  century ;  but,  since  not  a  single  copy  of  thij 
period  has  descended  to  us,  we  may  safely  regard  the  opin- 
ion as  baseless  and  extravagant. 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  89 

in  orthodox  circles  during  the  last  quarter  of  the 
second  century.      Though   we  have    no    positive 
evidence  of  their  existence  before  this  time,  it  is 
reasonable  to  presume  that  they  were  compiled, 
and  existed  pretty  nearly  in  their  present  shape, 
some  years  previous  to  their  general  acceptance, 
having    originally    been    used    by   different    and 
widely  separated  communities,  and,  therefore,  on 
account  of  their  local  use   and  origin,  not  being 
generally  known.     At  the  same  time,  there  were 
other  Gospels,   some  of  them  of    earlier  origin, 
which  were  similarly  regarded  as  authoritative  by 
certain  sections  of    the   Church,  though  neither 
these  nor    our    canonical   Gospels   were    at    first 
looked  upon  as  sacred  or  inspired  writings  like 
the  Old  Testament,  or  even  as  of  equal  value  with 
oral  tradition.    None  of   them  probably  existed 
during  the  lifetime  of  any  of  the  Apostles,  nor 
can  be  traced  with    certainty  to   their  personal 
influence  or  inspiration. 

From  the  general  consent  of  the  tradition  pre- 
served in  the  first  three  Gospels,  and  its  agree- 
ment, in  the  main,  with  the  information   trans- 
mitted to  us  from    other    sources,  such   as    the 
primitive  Gospel  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  Teach- 
ing of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  we  may  conclude  that 
the  main  features  of  the  picture  of  the  life  and 
teachings  of  Jesus  which  they  present  to  us,  when 
freed  from  its  evident  mythical  accretions,  may  be 
accepted  as  historically  trustworthy.     The  numer- 
ous  though  minor  differences  in  the  synoptical 
narratives  which  forbid  the  conception  of  collusion 
between  their  authors,  and  the  consequent  rational 


90  A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHBISTIANITT 

probability  that  they  originated  in  diverse  locali- 
ties, and  reported  a  generally  prevalent  and  uni- 
versally accepted  tradition,  renders  them  in  the 
main  reliable,  though  anonymous,  witnesses.  Yet 
we  must  admit,  in  all  candor,  with  a  recent  able 
writer,*  that  we  cannot  affirm,  with  absolute 
certainty,  of  any  single  word  attributed  to  Jesus 
that  he  spoke  it  exactly  as  recorded.  With  the 
author  of  The  Cradle  of  the  Christ,  we  may  recog- 
nize the  fact  that  the  features  of  the  historical 
Jesus  have  been  so  obscured  by  legendary  accre- 
tions, which  enter  into  the  popular  evangelical 
conception  of  the  ideal  Christ,  that  it  is  a  problem 
for  the  nicest  and  most  accurate  critical  analysis 
to  separate  the  one  from  the  other,  and  thereby 
reveal  the  truth  of  history.  Fortunately,  however, 
the  accurate  scholarship  of  the  present  generation 
has  furnished  us  with  a  rational  clew  to  the  legen- 
dary labyrinth  of  the  Gospels. 

The  TestimoniT  of  Joseptina  anal  the  Pagan  Elia- 
torians. 

Of  contemporaneous  references  to  Jesus,  as  has 
been  remarked,  there  exists  not  a  single  one. 
Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  writing  at  about 
the  close  of  the  first  century,  possibly  alludes  to 
him  in  a  passage  where  he  is  reported  as  referring 
to  "James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  the  so-called 
Christ."  The  longer  passage,  written  in  the  tone 
of  a  Christian  believer,  in  strong  contrast  with 
every  other  portion  of  the  writings  of  Josephus,  is 
now  admitted  by  all  candid  critics,  whether  of  the 

*Rev.  John  W.  Chadwick,  in  The  Bible  of  To  day. 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  91 

orthodox  or  the  liberal  faith,  to  be  an  interpola- 
tion. Josephus,  however,  gives  us  an  interesting 
account  of  the  character,  preaching,  and  death  of 
John  the  Baptist  in  passages  of  unquestioned 
authenticity,  tending  to  confirm  the  impressions  of 
that  remarkable  man  obtained  from  the  glimpses 
of  him  afforded  by  the  gospel  narratives,  and 
thus,  indirectly,  to  confirm  the  general  truth  of 
the  Christian  tradition. 

The  earliest  references  to  Jesus  in  the  writings 
of  the  Roman  historians  date  from  the  early  part 
of  the  second  century,  and  are  exceedingly  brief 
and  unsatisfactory,  tending  only  to  confirm  the 
facts  of  his  existence  and  of  his  tragical  death. 
Suetonius  alludes  to  him  as  "one  Chrestus,  a  Jew, 
who  stirred  up  tumults  in  Rome"  at  the  time  of 
the  Emperor  Claudius.     A  longer  passage  from 
Tacitus,*  of  doubtful  authenticity,  but  generally 
accepted  as  genuine  by  Christian  historians,  adds 
but  little  to  our  information,  and  is  valuable  only 
as  confirmation  of  the  general  belief  of  the  period 
in  the  existence  of  Jesus  as  an  historical  personage. 
The  younger  Pliny,  about  104  A.D.,  writes  from 
Bithynia,  of  which  province  he  was  the  Roman 
governor,  an  interesting  account  of  the  Christians 
who  resided  in  that  neighborhood,  but  adds  noth- 
ing to  our  knowledge  of  the  life  and  work  of 

We  must  turn  then  to  the  Synoptical  Gospels  as 

•  Tacitus  8Deak8  of  the  Jews  as  a  people  "without  relig- 
ion "nnd  regards  Christianity  as  exitiabilis  superstiHo,- 
"'TraiseribTe^superstition.".  &e  says  that  Jesns  wa,  <.ex^ 
cuted,  in  the  reign  of  Tiberias,  by  the  procurator,  Pontius 
•piintA  "  thus  conflrmins  the  gospel  narrative. 

Jne'speaks  of  Christranity  asprova  et  immodica  super- 

stitw. 


92         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHKISTIANITY 

our  only  reliable  source  of  information  concerning 
the  religion  of  Jesus.  We  may  recognize  the 
probability  that  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel 
built  up  his  doctrinal  system  around  an  extant 
local  tradition  of  the  life  of  Jesus,  differing  in 
some  respects  from  that  of  the  synoptics,  and  in 
others  confirming  the  testimony  of  the  first  three 
Gospels.  The  additional  features,  however,  which 
constitute  the  main  part  of  this  Gospel,  for  reasons 
already  given,  we  cannot  regard  as  trustworthy. 
To  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  we  may  go  for  a  history 
of  the  remarkable  development  of  doctrine  and 
expansion  of  the  universalizing  tendencies  in  the 
new  religion  which  occurred  under  his  leadership 
and  inspiration,  to  the  Apostolic  Fathers  for  the 
succeeding  phase  of  the  growing  faith,  and  to 
the  Christian  writers,  the  Gnostics,  and  the  con- 
temporary pagan  historians  and  scholars  of  later 
periods,  for  its  subsequent  development. 

The  Relative  Age  and  Tendencies  of  the  Can«iii« 
cat  Oospels. 

Concerning  the  relative  age,  purport,  and  relia- 
bility of  the  Gospels,  widely  different  views  have 
prevailed  in  the  past,  and  still  prevail,  among 
Biblical  scholars.  The  most  rational  conclusion 
appears  to  be  that  which  regards  Mark,  our  Second 
Gospel,  as  the  earliest  in  composition,  Matthew 
the  second,  and,  but  little  later  in  time,  Luke  the 
third,  and  John,  or  the  Fourth  Gospel,  the  last  in 
the  order  of  time.  Those  critics  who  consider 
that  the  exaltation  of  the  personality  of  Jesus, 
and  the  more  frequent  use  of  the  term,  "the  Son 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION  93 

of  God,"  ia  Mark,  indicate  a  later  development  of 
Christology,  would  place  Matthew  before  Mark  in 
chronological  order,  as  does  Keim.*  Those  who 
regard  Luke  as  merely  an  expansion  of  Marcion's 
Gospel  would  place  the  Third  Gospel  before  either 
Mark  or  Matthew.  This  view  is  adopted  by 
Waite,  Keeler,  and  other  recent  liberal  writers. 
The  arguments  in  favor  of  the  priority  of  Mark, 
presented  by  Dr.  E.  A.  Abbott,  the  writer  of  the 
article  on  the  Gospels  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Bri- 
tannica,  by  Renan,  and  other  able  and  competent 
critics,  appear  to  me,  however,  to  be  conclusive 
and  unanswerable.  Dr.  Abbott  regards  this  view 
as  the  most  satisfactorily  demonstrated  proposition 
in  New  Testament  controversy. 

The  principal  reasons  for  accepting  the  priority 
of  Mark  may  thus  be  briefly  stated  : — 

1.  Its  style  is  more  crude  and  primitive  than 
that  of  either  of  the  other  canonical  Gospels.  Its 
Greek  is  more  corrupt.  It  reports  certain  of  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  in  the  original  Aramaic  in  which 
they  were  spoken.  It  was  written  probably  by  a 
Jewish  Christian,  of  no  great  pretensions  to  schol- 
arship, but  familiar  with  both  the  Greek  and  the 
Aramaic  languages. 

2.  It  is  the  shortest  and  least  systematic  in  its 
arrangement  of  all  the  biographies  of  Jesus.  It 
contains  only  twenty-four  verses  not  also  found  in 
Matthew  and  Luke.  This  would  naturally  be  the 
fact,  if  the  last-named  Gospels  were  written  later, 
using  either  Mark,  or  the   material  from  which 

*  The  History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara,  by  Prof.  Theodor 
Keim, — one  of  the  most  valuable  and  interesting  historical 
studies  of  the  New  Testament  period. 


94        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Mark  was  compiled,  as  a  basis.  The  later  writers 
would  naturally  use  much  of  the  material  of  the  ear- 
lier, adding  to  it  such  facts  or  modifications  of  these 
original  statements  as  they  should  deem  important. 

3.  Luke  and  Mark  contain  matter  in  common 
which  is  not  found  in  Matthew ;  Matthew  and 
Mark  also  contain  matter  in  common  not  found  in 
Luke ;  but  Matthew  and  Luke  contain  no  matter 
in  common  which  is  not  also  found  in  a  slightly 
modified  form  in  Mark.  This  condition  of  affairs 
is  hardly  explainable  upon  any  theory  save  that 
of  the  priority  of  Mark. 

4.  The  supernatural  element  is  less  developed  in 
Mark  than  in  either  of  the  other  Gospels.  The 
stories  of  the  miraculous  birth  are  wholly  wanting, 
and  also  the  story  of  the  resurrection  and  ascen- 
sion ;  the  final  verses  of  the  concluding  chapter  not 
being  found  in  the  earliest  manuscripts,  and  being, 
doubtless,  a  later  addition  by  a  different  author. 

5.  The  term  "Son  of  God,"  as  applied  to  Jesus 
in  the  Second  Grospel,  is  not,  as  some  assume,  an 
evidence  of  developed  Christology,  but  the  con- 
trary. It  was  the  common  designation  of  the 
members  of  the  "kingdom  of  God,"  the  regener- 
ate Jewish  state.  It  is  used  in  this  natural  sense 
in  the  Fourth  Gospel,  in  some  of  the  Epistles, 
and  in  early  Hebrew  writings.*  "The  genesis  of 
Jesus  as  Son  of  God,"  says  Prof.  Allen,  "precedes 
his  genesis  as  the  Messiah  of  the  Jews."  f 


•Notably,  in  the  writings  of  Philo,  of  earlier  date  than 
any  of  the  New  Testament  literature. 

^Christian  History,  by  Joseph  Henry  Allen,  Professor  in 
Cornell  University,  late  lecturer  in  the  Harvard  Divinity 
School. 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION 


95 


The  Gospels  are  all  what  are  known  to  scholars 
as  "tendency  writings" ;  that  is  to  say,  they  have 
each  some  ulterior  motive  and  object  beyond  that 
of  making  a  clear  and  succinct  statement  of  his- 
torical truth.  Thus,  the  writer  of  Mark  aims, 
above  all,  to  exalt  and  magnify  the  human  per- 
sonality of  Jesus.  The  tradition  which  refers  its 
authorship  to  a  personal  follower  of  the  Apostle 
Peter  is  significant  and  not  improbable.  Its  char- 
acter is  such  as  we  would  naturally  anticipate,  if 
inspired  by  contact  with  o^e  who  had  seen  and 
known  the  Master. 

The  writer  of  the  First  Gospel  (Matthew)  aims 
to  present  Jesus  in  the  character  of  the  Messiah 
of  the  Jews,  fulfilling  the  alleged  Messianic  proph- 
ecies of  the  Old  Testament.     Its  style  of  compo- 
sition is  less  natural  and  more  mechanical  than 
that  of  Mark.     It  presents  distinct  evidences  of 
manufacture,  and  the  free  use  of  older  documents 
which  are  apparently  wrought  into  its  structure 
with  little  alteration.     Some  of  them  even  embody 
contradictory  traditions,  as  the  genealogy  of  Jesus, 
which  names  Joseph  as  his  father,  and  the  incon- 
sistent  birth-story  of    the  early  chapters.      The 
short  sentences  and  aphorisms  scattered  through 
the  Second  and  Third  Gospels  are  collected  into 
the  "Sermon  on  the  Mount,"  in  Matthew.     The 
story  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  and  the  reports  of  his 
public  career  are  arranged  with  special  reference 
to  the  fulfilment  of  Messianic  prophecies. 

The  author  of  the  Third  Gospel  presents  Jesus 
as  the  Saviour  of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  empha- 
sizing his  relation  toward  the  latter.     He  traces  the 


96         A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

genealogy  of  Jesus  not  only  to  Abraham,  the  father 
of  the  Hebrews,  as  in  Matthew,  but  back  of  him  to 
Adam,  the  father  of  the  human  race.  He  also  re- 
lates the  story  of  the  healing  of  the  Syro-Phoenician 
woman  and  the  parable  of  the  good  Samaritan, 
illustrative  of  the  universal  or  Pauline  tendency  of 
this  Gospel.  He  makes  Jesus  send  out  not  only  the 
twelve  apostles  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  as 
in  Mark  and  in  Matthew,  but  also  seventy  others, 
to  every  nation  of  the  earth.  The  style  of  the 
Third  Gospel  is  more  finished  and  elegant,  and  its 
contents  are  more  orderly  in  their  arrangement 
than  either  the  First  or  the  Second. 

The  writer  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  presents  Jesus 
as  the  eternally  existent,  incarnate  Logos,  the 
maker  of  the  world,  and  its  supernatural  re- 
deemer. To  this  end,  he  omits  the  birth-stories 
as  unnecessary  to  his  purpose,  and  completely 
subordinates  historical  accuracy.  A  ghostly  ap- 
parition, exalting  his  own  spiritual  office  and  su- 
pernatural power,  and  placing  supreme  emphasis 
on  dogmatic  statements  of  truth,  takes  the  place 
of  the  living  man,  calling  his  fellow-men  to  salva- 
tion through  righteousness. 

In  their  quotations  from  the  Old  Testament,  the 
gospel  writers  most  frequently  make  use  of  the  Sep- 
tuagint  version,  as  would  be  natural  in  a  Greek  writ- 
ing. Mark  and  Matthew,  however,  sometimes  vary 
from  the  renderings  of  the  Septuagint,  making,  ap- 
parently, a  direct  translation  from  some  extant 
Aramaic  version  of  the  Scriptures,  either  oral  or 
written.  Mark's  renderings  of  Scriptural  passages 
are  freer  and  less  literal  than  those  of  Matthew. 


SOURCES   OF   INFORMATION 


97 


Bearing  in  mind  the  nature  of  these,  our  only 
sources  of   information  concerning   the  life   and 
teachings  of  the  Nazarene  Prophet,  we  will   at- 
tempt hereafter  to  draw  therefrom  a  just  and  true 
conception  of  his  work,  his  doctrine,  and  his  per- 
sonality.   If,  haply,  beneath  the  legendary  accre- 
tions of   an  unscientific    age    and    an  uncritical 
people,  through  the  false  lights  of  a  tendency  lit- 
erature, the  composition  of  which  was  instigated 
by  other  aims  than  that  of   historical  accuracy, 
we  shall  nevertheless  be  able  to  discover  the  feat- 
ures of  a  man  in  all  respects  like  unto  such  as  we 
are,  but  with  a  soul  on  fire  with  a  righteous  and 
unselfish  purpose  to  elevate  and  save  his  fellow- 
men,— then,  in  the  satisfaction  and  encouragement 
of  this  discovery,  we  need  not  repine  at  the  vanish- 
ing of  a  god. 


IV. 

THEOLOGICAL  ASPECTS   OF    THE  RE- 
LIGION OF  JESUS. 

It  is  our  purpose,  in  this  and  the  succeeding 
lecture,  to  give  as  clear  and  distinct  a  presentation 
as  possible  of  the  salient  points  in  the  life  and 
teachings  of  Jesus.  As  has  already  been  fore- 
shadowed, our  chief,  I  may  almost  say  our  sole, 
reliance  will  be  placed  upon  the  Synoptic  Gospels, 
especially  upon  that  consensus  of  statement  known 
as  the  Triple  Tradition.  Next  to  that,  we  shall 
accept  as  most  reliable  the  separate  statements  of 
Mark  and  Matthew,  and,  after  them,  of  Luke. 
The  Fourth  Gospel  will  be  deemed  of  value  to  us 
only  in  so  far  as  it  confirms  the  synoptical  tradi- 
tion in  certain  particulars,  and  also  in  so  far  as  it 
throws  light  upon  the  question  of  the  natural 
growth  of  Christian  doctrine,  and  of  the  mythical 
and  miraculous  legends  which  gathered  around 
the  human  life  of  the  founder  of  Christianity, 
as  they  have  also  gathered  around  and  partially 
obscured  the  lives  of  other  religious  teachers. 
Omitting  this  portion  of  our  subject  for  the  pres- 
ent for  separate  treatment  hereafter,  all  that  we 
really  know  of  the  life  of  Jesus  and  of  his  theo- 
logical beliefs  may  be  briefly  sketched. 


THE   RELIGION   OF   JESUS  99 

Unhisterical  and  Unreliable  Character  of  the 
Birth  8toriea. 

Of  his  early  history,  our  informatioQ  is  extremely 
limited.  He  was  born,  doubtless,  in  Nazareth,*  a 
small  hillside  town  in  Galilee,  from  three  to  eight 
years  before  the  first  year  of  our  era,  as  at  present 
improperly  reckoned.  Herod  the  Great  died  about 
four  years  before  the  commencement  of  the  Chris- 
tian era;  and,  if  the  tradition,  which  assigns  the 
birth  of  Jesus  to  his  reign,  can  be  deemed  reliable, 
the  question  of  his  earlier  birth  is  definitely  set- 
tled. The  exact  year,  however,  or  time  of  the 
year,  is  absolutely  unknown.  The  earlier  tradi- 
tion fixed  the  spring  as  the  season  of  his  birth. 
The  final  acceptance  of  the  25th  of  December, 
some  centuries  later,  grew  out  of  the  substitution 
of  the  Christian  festivities  for  the  Roman  Satur- 
nalia and  Mithraic  festivals,  which  occurred  at  the 
period  of  the  winter  solstice,  and  celebrated  the 
triumph  of  the  god  of  light  in  the  growing  day. 
This  day  had  long  been  known  among  the  Romans 
as  dies  natalis  solis  invicti, — the  birthday  of  the 
conquering  sun. 

The  stories  of  the  birth  in  Bethlehem  are  mu- 
tually contradictory  and  irreconcilable.  They  are 
not  even  mentioned  in  Mark,  the  oldest  of  the 
Gospels,  or  in  the  Fourth  Gospel.  They  are 
alluded  to  nowhere  in  the  other  Gospels  except  in 
the  contradictory  accounts  of  the  opening  chapters. 
Matthew  t  states  that  the  family  of  Joseph  first 

♦Mark;  i.,  9,  24;  vi.,  4;  x.,  47;  xiv.,  67;  xvl.,  6;  Matt.: 
iv.,  13;  xxi.,  11 ;  xxvi.,  71 ;  Luke  :  iv.,  16,  23,  24;  xviii.,  37; 
xxiii.,  6,  7  ;  xxiv.,  19 ;  Johu :  i.,  45,  46 ;  Iv.,  44  ;  xix.,  19,  etc 

t  Chapter  ii. 


100         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

lived  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea,  fled  to  Egypt  to 
avoid  the  massacre  of  infants  ordered  by  King 
Herod,  and  on  their  return  thence  chose  Nazareth 
in  Galilee  as  their  home,  from  fear  of  Archelaus, 
the  son  and  successor  of  Herod.  Luke,*  on  the 
contrary,  represents  them  as  dwelling  originally  in 
Nazareth,  and  going  to  Bethlehem,  the  home  of 
their  ancestors,  to  be  enrolled  for  taxation.  He 
knows  nothing  of  the  journey  into  Egypt  reported 
by  Matthew.  There  is  no  historical  evidence  of 
any  enrolment  or  assessment  of  taxes  at  the  time 
alleged  by  Luke,  or  of  any  custom  which  required 
families  to  be  enrolled  at  the  home  of  their  ances- 
tors instead  of  their  own  dwelling-place.f  The 
only  assessment  of  which  we  have  any  information 
occurring  near  this  period  took  place  ten  or  more 
years  subsequent  to  the  death  of  Herod,  and  not 
until  after  the  deposition  of  Archelaus.  The 
massacre  of  the  children  is  also  a  wholly  unhis- 
torical  and  improbable  legend.  Josephus,  who 
willingly  records  everything  which  bears  against 
the  character  of  Herod,  knows  nothing  of  this 
occurrence.  Similar  stories  are  related  of  Krishna, 
one  of  the  avatars  or  incarnations  of  the  Hindu 
god  Vishnu,  of  Moses,  the  Hebrew  law-giver,  and 
of  Sargon,  an  Akkadian  king, — all  probably  ref- 
erable to  current  solar  mythologies  for  their 
explanations.  The  legend  of  the  birth  in  Bethle- 
hem grew,  probably,  out  of  a  misrepresentation  of 
a  passage  in  Micah  (v.,  2),  erroneously  supposed 
to  be  a  prophecy  of  the  Messiah. 

*  Chapter  ii.  .,      _ 

t  See  Josephus  and  later  Jewish  historians.    Also  Kenan, 
Vie  de  Jisus,  etc. 


THE   RELIGION   OF   JESUS 


101 


The  Parentage  and  Ancestry  of  Jeans. 

The  parents  of  Jesus  were  Joseph  and  Mary  * 
humble  Galilean  peasants.    Except  in  the  contra- 
dictory legends  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  and  in  the 
still  more  extravagant  and  incredible  stones  of 
the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  we  have  no  confirmation 
of  any  contemporary  belief  in  the  miraculous  birth 
of  a  virgin.     This  story  conflicts  with  the  genealo- 
gies contained  in  these  early  chapters  of  the  First 
and  Third  Gospels,  which  trace  the  lineage  of 
Jesus  through  Joseph  as  his  natural  father.     The 
Nazarenes,  or    Ebionites.-a  very  early    sect   of 
Jewish  Christians,  who  numbered  among   them- 
selves the  descendants  of  the  family  of  Jesus,— 
rejected  this  legend,  which  doubtless  grew  out  of 
the  misinterpretation  of  an  Old  Testament  text.f 
Joseph  and  Mary  probably  had  a  considerable 
family  of   children,  the  brothers  and  sisters  of 
Jesus,t— a    fact    frequently    recognized    by    the 
Evangelists,  and  also  by  the  writers  of  the  Apoc- 
ryphal Gospels.     James,  the   brother    of   Jesus, 
subsequently  became  a  recognized  leader  of  the 
Nazarenes,  or  Jewish  sect  of   Christians.     Some 
early  writers    suppose    Joseph    to    have    been_  a 
widower  with  children  before  his  marriage  with 
Mary;    others,   that  the  brothers   and  sisters  of 
Jesus  were  all  younger  than  himself.     But  these 
suppositions   are  wholly    conjectural:    we    really 
know  nothing  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

-^MattTI^^  „eans 

tisaiali  vn  ,14.    '■"^j'r.rrhf,  tpxt  has  really  no    ^iessi- 
^iSSn;rcao?eTrTe?ereBce''to'any^even^'1n\he  remote 
fumre.^  See  Ku^nen,  Bible  for  Learners,  etc. 
tM.aikvi.,3,  etc. 


102         A   STUDY   OF    riUMITIYE   CHRISTIAJJITY 

We  have  no  reliable  evidence  that  Jesus  bore 
any  relationship  to  David  or  the  royal  line  of 
Israel.  His  birth  and  residence  in  Galilee,  out  of 
the  region  allotted  to  the  tribe  to  which  David 
and  Solomon  belouged,  would  tend  to  discredit 
this  tradition,  which  doubtless  grew  up  after  the 
r6le  of  the  Jewish  Messiah  had  been  assigned  to 
Jesus.  In  the  Triple  Tradition,  indeed,  he  appears 
expressly  to  disclaim  this  ancestry,  arguing  in 
favor  of  his  own  Messianic  pretensions  that,  since 
David  called  the  Messiah  his  Lord,  he  could  not 
therefore  be  his  son  or  descendant.* 

nis  Early  liife  and  Occnpatious. 

The  father  of  Jesus  was  a  carpenter ;  and  early 
traditions,  both  of  the  canonical  and  Apocryphal 
Gospels,  represent  Jesus  as  working  with  him  at 
his  trade.f  With  the  single  exception  of  the  story 
of  his  contest  with  the  rabbis  in  the  temple, 
recorded  in  the  Third  Gospel, J  which  reminds  us 
of  a  similar  legend  in  the  life  of  Buddha,  we  have 
absolutely  no  reliable  tradition  of  his  early  life. 
The  early  maturity  of  Jewish  youth  makes  this 
legend  not  wholly  improbable,  though  it  would 
appear  more  reasonable  to  assign  the  locality  of 
the  occurrence,  if  it  ever  happened,  to  some  Gali- 
lean synagogue,  rather  than  to  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem.  At  the  synagogue  and  the  schools 
connected  therewith,  Jesus  was  doubtless  in- 
structed in  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  according 
to  the  uncritical  methods  of  interpretation  then  in 

♦Mark  xii.,  35-37;  Matt,  xxii.,  41-46;  Luke  xx.,  41-44, 
t  Mark  vi.,  3,  etc.  t  Luke  ii.,  41-52. 


THE   RELIGION   OF   JESUS  103 

vogue;  and  here  also  he  may  have  learned  some- 
thing of  the   disputations  of   the  rabbis  of  the 
different  Pharisaical   schools.      There  is  no  evi- 
dence, however,  that  he  received  any  general  or 
secular  education,  or  that  he  knew  any  language 
save  his  native  Syro-Chaldaic  tongue. 
The  Relations  of  Jesus  ^ith  Joha  the  Baptist. 
The  oldest  Gospel  opens  with  a  brief  account  of 
his  conversion  and  baptism  by  John  the  Baptist, 
an  episode  in  his  life  which  is  confirmed  in  the 
triple  tradition,  as  well  as  by  the  character  of  his 
subsequent  teaching,  and  may  be  accepted  as  his- 
torical*    The  stories  of   the  Third  Gospel  con- 
cerning the  birth  of  John  the   Baptist,  and  the 
assumption  of  his  relationship  to  Jesus,t  must, 
however,  be  rejected,-not  merely  because  of  their 
miraculous  implications,  but  because  they  are  irrec- 
oncilable with  the  more  reliable  account  of  the 
later  relations  of  John  and  Jesus  contained  in  the 
synoptics.      The  tradition  that  John   recognized 
Jesus  at  the  time  of  his  baptism  as  one  greater 
than  himself-as  the  Messiah  of  the  JewsJ-is 
wholly  discredited  by  the  consenting  testimony  of 
the  synoptical  writers.     If  these  legends  had  had 
any  foundation  in   fact,   John,    when   in   prison, 
would  never  have  had  occasion  to  send  his  dis- 
ciples to  Jesus  with  the  question,  "Art  thou  he 
who  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another?"  § 

We  must  believe  that  Jesus  was  profoundly  im- 
pressed by  the  teaching  of  this  remarkable  man. 

§Matt.  xi.,  2-6;  Luke  vi.,  18-23. 


104        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

His  impassioned  exhortations  to  repentance,  his 
announcement  of  the  speedy  coming  of  the  Mes- 
sianic kingdom,  his  stern  denunciation  of  the  Phar- 
isees and  Sadducees  as  "a  generation  of  vipers," 
his  condemnation  of  riches  and  extortion,  his 
advocacy  of  a  simple  communistic  life,  are  all 
notably  characteristic  of  the  subsequent  life  and 
public  teachings  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.* 
His  initiation  to  discipleship  by  the  ceremony  of 
immersion,  preceded  by  a  confession  of  sins,  to 
which  Jesus  himself  submitted,  though  not  admin- 
istered thereafter  to  others  by  the  founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, was  adopted  by  his  disciples,  and  became 
a  solemn  rite  of  the  earliest   Christian  commu- 

nities.f 

The  public  career  of  Jesus,  according  to  the  sy- 
noptical writers,  lasted  only  about  one  year.  The 
Fourth  Gospel  would  extend  this  period  to  more 
than  three  years;  but,  brief  as  the  former  time 
appears,  we  have  no  rational  option  but  to  accept 
the  necessary  inference  from  the  consenting  ac- 
counts of  the  synoptics.  It  is  of  the  theological 
or  religious  aspect  of  his  teaching  during  this 
short  period  of  his  public  labors  that  we  propose 
now  to  treat,  leaving  its  social  and  ethical  phases 
for  subsequent  consideration. 

The  Story  of  the  Temptation. 

We  may  infer  from  the  legend  of  the  temptar 
tion  that  Jesus  withdrew  into  the  wilderness  after 
his  baptism,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  Essenes,  the 

•  Matt,  iii.,  7-12;  Luke  iii.,  7-18. 
t  Mark  i.,  4 ;  Luke  iii.,  3,  et  seq. 


THE   RELIGION   OF   JESUS  105 

disciples  of  John  the  Baptist,  the  Buddhist  monks, 
and  Hindu  ascetics,  for  a  period  of  fasting  and 
solitary    meditation.     That    he    should  there    be 
tempted  "of  Satan,"  and  ministered  unto  by  angels, 
as  briefly  reported  by  ^lark,*  Tras  quite  in  concur- 
rence with  the  popular  beliefs  of  his  time  and  peo- 
ple.   This  general  and  indefinite  statement  of  the 
oldest  Gospd,  confined  to  two  brief  verses,  is  ex- 
panded into  the  long  and  circi^stantial  accounts 
of  the  contest  between  Jesus   and  the  devil,  in 
eleven  verses  of  Matthew  and  thirteen  of  Luke.f 
wherein  the  enemy  and  Saviour  of  mankind  are 
made  to  quote  Scripture  at  each  other  with  the 
facility  of  modern  antagonistic  sectarians,  the  only 
evident  point  of  superiority  lying  in  the  fact  that 
Jesus  has  the  last  word,  and  his  antagonist  retires 
discomfited.    The  growth  of  the  longer  and  less 
natural  version  of  the  story  out  of  a  possible  and 
natural  fact  introductory  to  his  career  as  a  public 
teacher,  and  its  consequent  legendary  and  uahis- 
torical  character,  are  too  reasonable  and  apparent 
to  require  more  than  the  simple  statement  of  the 
record  in  confirmation  thereof. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  that  the  contact  of  Jesus 
with  the  Baptist,  and  his  subsequent  solitary  med- 
itations, greatly  intensified  certain  convictions  and 
impulses  which  had  long  been  growing  within  him. 
His  belief  in  the  speedy  coming  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom— an  event  everywhere  anticipated  in  the 
synoptics  as  about  to  occur  in  the  then  living  gen- 
eration-dominated   his    thought  and    controlled 
his  life  thereafter.     It  involved  the  current  concep- 
•  Mark  i.,  12, 13.  tMatt.  iv.,  1-11;  Luke  iv.,  1-13. 


106         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

tion, — derived,  probably,  from  the  Persian  popular 
belief, — that  the  old  order  of  things  was  to  pass 
speedily  away,  the  world  was  to  be  renovated  by 
fire,  and  a  new  and  eternal  kingdom  was  to  be 
established,  wherein  the  just  would  live  forever  in 
perfect  security  and  happiness.  God  himself,  the 
"heavenly  Father,"  would  be  the  ruler  of  this  heav- 
enly kingdom.  The  Messiah,  or  Deliverer,  would 
sit  at  his  right  hand  and  render  judgment  to  all 
mankind  according  to  the  deserts  of  their  past 
lives. 

Jlewiah  Conception  of  t3ie  Character  of  God. 

The  conception  of  the  Deity  popularly  held 
among  the  Jews  at  the  time  of  Jesus  was  still 
strongly  anthropomorphic,  though  less  grossly  so 
than  that  which  we  find  exemplified  in  the  earlier 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  harsher  ele- 
ments in  the  character  of  Yahweh  had  been  modi- 
fied, and  the  conception  of  his  nature  broadened 
and  spiritualized  by  the  experiences  of  the  Jews 
during  and  subsequent  to  the  Babylonian  captivity. 
Doubtless,  something  of  this  result  is  due  to  the 
exalted  spiritual  conception  of  Ahura-Mazda  held 
by  the  Persians,  and  perhaps  also  in  some  degree, 
though  less  evidently,  to  the  broadening  and  lib- 
eralizing influence  of  Hellenic  culture.  The  stern, 
jealous,  tribal  God  of  the  Old  Testament,  resem- 
bling an  Oriental  despot  in  his  character  and  deal- 
ings with  men,  had  given  place  to  one  who  was 
the  God  of  all  the  earth,  the  Father  of  his  chosen 
people,  and,  through  their  exaltation  and  suprem- 
acy among  the  nations,  some  time  to  be  recognized 


THE   RELIGION   OF   JESUS  lOT 

as  the  Father  and  Ruler  of  the  world.  In  its  lof- 
tiest phase,  as  illustrated  in  the  teachings  of  the 
later  prophets  and  the  more  enlightened  of  the 
rabbis,  the  highest  service  of  this  heavenly  Father 
was  made  to  consist,  not  in  sacrifice  or  ceremonial, 
but  in  the  doing  of  righteousness. 

Jesnsi'  Doctrine  o«  the  Hearenly  Father. 

More  fully  than  any  of  his  contemporaries  did 
Jesus  inherit  the  spirit  and  sublime  ethical  pur- 
pose of  the  prophets.     He  regarded  the  Pharisaic 
formalism  of  the  times  as  superficial  and  displeas- 
ing to  the  heavenly  Father,  and  sought  to  bring 
his  people  to  the  heavenly  kingdom  by  stimulating 
them  to  live  righteous  and  true  lives.     He  believed 
firmly  in  the  special,  watchful  providence  of  God. 
Yahweh,  in  his  thought,  had  a  loving,  personal 
care  over  all  his  children.     Not  even   a  sparrow 
could  fall  to  the  ground  without  his  notice.     He 
dealt  blessings  upon  all  with  an  even  hand.     Ha 
made  his  sun  to  rise  upon  the  evU  and  upon  the 
good  alike :  he  sent  his  rain  upon  the  just  and 
upon  the  unjust.     Whatever  of  estrangement  there 
was   between  men  and  the  heavenly  Father  was 
due,  therefore,  not  to  the  harshness  and  severity  of 
his  government,  but  solely  to  the  wickedness  or 
wilful  perversity  of  man. 

The  Character  and  Efficacy  of  Prarcr. 

The  God  of  Jesus  is  omniscient,  knowing  all 
human  needs  without  man's  solicitation.  Yet  he 
delights  to  bear  and  answer  the  prayer  of  faith. 
Whatever  is  asked  of  him  in  a  childlike  and  sub- 


108        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

missive  spirit,  iu  a  spirit  of  utter  self-abnegation 
and  trust,  he  will  grant,  though  it  involve  such  a 
physical  miracle  as  the  removal  of  a  mountain. 
Yet,  though  Jesus  held  this  perfect  faith  that  the 
Father  would  answer  the  sincere  prayer  of  a  trust- 
ful heart,  the  long  prayers  of  the  Pharisees  in  the 
synagogues  and  public  places,  their  "much  speak- 
ing" and  "vain  repetition,"  were  held  by  him  in 
abhorrence.  It  was  only  upon  the  importunity  of 
his  disciples  that  he  consented  to  give  them  that 
simple  formula  for  supplication  known  to  us  as 
"the  Lord's  Prayer."  Even  this  was  not  to  be 
used  in  public  or  formal  repetition.  The  disciples 
were  commanded  to  retire  into  their  closets,  to 
pray  in  secret,  that  the  Father  who  seeth  in  secret 
might  reward  them  openly.* 

This  habit  of  complete  privacy  in  prayer,  which 
he  commended  to  his  disciples,  was  evidently  in 
accordance  with  his  own  consistent  practice.  He 
sent  away  his  disciples,  and  "departed  into  a  moun- 
tain" to  pray.  He  knelt  alone  in  the  wilderness 
and  in  desert  places  ;  and  only  iu  a  few  short  ejac- 
ulations, drawn  from  him  as  in  the  agony  of  cruci- 
fixion, do  we  find  him  giving  utterance  to  suppli- 
cations to  God  in  the  presence  of  others,  f  The 
differentiation  of  modern  Christianity  from  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  is  in  no  respect  more  notable  than 
in  its  universal  custom  of  formal  praying  at  set 
times  and  in  public  places. 


♦Matt,  vi.,  5-15;  compare  Luke  xi.,  1-13,  etc.  See  also 
Mark  xi.,  22-26. 

tMark:  vi.,  46;  x.iv.,  32-40;  Matt,  xxvi.,  36-45;  Luke  :  ix., 
18;  xxii.,  41^5,  etc. 


THE   RELIGIOX   OF   JESUS  109 

The  Unitarianism  of  Jesus. 

In  his  thought  of  God  there  is  nothing  of  poly- 
theistic or  trinitarian  implication.     He  accepted 
fully  the  lofty  Unitarianism*  of  the  Hebrew  law- 
giver from  whom  he  quotes,  "Hear,  O  Israel,  the 
Eternal  our  God,  the  Eternal  is  one."     To  this 
high  and  lofty  One,  merciful  as  well  as  just,  all- 
seeing,  caring  for  the  humblest  of  his  creatures, 
was  due  the  love  of  the  whole  heart  of  man,  his 
child.    The  conception  of  himself  or  of  another  as 
a  Son  of  God  in  any  exclusive  or  supernatural 
sense,  of  a  God  coming  upon  earth  in  human  form, 
would  have  been   as  abhorrent  and  unnatural^  to 
Jesus  as  it  has  ever  been  to  his  people.     The  trini- 
tarian dogma  is  a  belief  as  impossible  to  the  true 
Israelite  as  any  other  form  of  polytheism  or  idola- 
try.    In  its  later  Christian   development,  it  is  a 
purely  Aryan  philosophical  conception,  and  entered 
Christianity  from  other  than  Jewish  sources.    In 
this  respect,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
Jesus  was  anything  but  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews, 
_"an  Israelite  indeed  in  whom  there  is  no  guile. 
God  alone  is  good,  he  said,  rejecting  the  appella- 
tion "Good  Master."    Yet  he  held  up  the  perfec- 
tions of  the  divine  character  as  a  model  and  ex- 
ample for  human  endeavor  in  that  most  exigent 
and  lofty   exhortation   to  noble  living,— "Be  ye 
therefore  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  who  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect." 

Jeans'  Moctrine  of  the  Future  liife. 
The  thought  of  Jesus  concerning  God,  however, 

"  .  It  need  scarcely  be  said  that  we  use  this  word  with  no 
narrow  or  sectarian  meaning. 


110        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

has  another  side  than  this  attractive  and  winning 
one, — the  side  of  inexorable  justice  and  severity 
toward  the  wrong-doer,  which  is  involved  in  his 
conception  of  the  future  life.     The  modern  doc- 
trine of  a  spiritual  immortality  for   all  men  is 
nowhere  explicitly  taught  by  him;  nor  does  he 
anywhere  definitely  describe  the  state  of  the  right- 
eous after  death.    We  are  left  to  infer  his  belief 
from  the  character  of  his  allegorical  descriptions, 
and  from  information  elsewhere  derived  of  the 
current  conception  of  his  time  and  people.     His 
kingdom    of    heaven   was    evidently    an    earthly 
kingdom, — no  far-away  abode  of  the  sublimated 
spirit  apart  from  material  conditions,  no  misty 
Nirvana  like  that  of  the  Buddhists.     Accepting 
the  current  Pharisaic  notion  of  a  future  life  upon 
the  earth,  involving  the  conception  of  a  bodily 
resurrection,  he  believed  not  only  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  with  its  joys  in- 
effable for  the  righteous,  but  also,   if    we   may 
accept  the  record,  in  the  eternal  punishment  of  the 
unrepentant  sinner  in  the  fires  of  Gehenna.    Nay, 
more.    He  taught  that  the  few  only  were  destined 
for  salvation   and  happiness.     The  many   would 
"depart  into  everlasting  punishment,  prepared  for 
the  devil  and  his  angels."     The  dread  abode  of  the 
wicked  is  sometimes  characterized  as  "eternal  fire," 
sometimes  as   "outer  darkness,"  in  which  there 
would  be   "weeping    and    gnashing    of    teeth."* 
These  expressions,  similar  to  those  which  we  find 
in  the  later  Egyptian  inscriptions,  descriptive  of 

*  Matt,  xviii.,  8,  9  ;  Mark  ix.,  45,  46 ;  compare  Luke  xvi., 
19-27 ;  also  Matt.:  xx..  16 ;  xxii.,  13,  14;  xxiii.,  34;  xxv.,  30, 
41^6,  etc. 


THE   KELIGION   OF   JESUS  111 

the  place  of  future  punishment,  may  possibly  be 
regarded  as  strong  figures  to  describe  a  condition 
of  torment  which  would  otherwise  be  inconceiv- 
able, though  they  appear  to  have  been  interpreted 
very  literally  by  the  early  disciples  and  Fathers 
of  the  ,  Church.      The  physical  character  of  his 
entire  conception  of  the  life  hereafter,  moreover, 
would  appear  to  discredit  this  more  lenient  inter- 
pretation.     Whatever    the  exact    nature  of    the 
future    state    of    the  wicked    might    be,  it  was 
evidently  one  of  conscious,  unlimited  suffering  in 
the  thought  of  Jesus.    I  would  willingly  accept,  if 
it  were  possible,  the  ingenious  explanation  of  our 
Universalist  friends,  who  interpret  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  as  to  the  duration  of  this  suffering  as  mean- 
ing "age-long,"  or  for  the  length  of  an   aeon,— a 
long,  indefinite,  but  limited  period,— but  this  mod- 
ification of  the  terrible  sentence  of  the  wicked 
from  the  mouth  of  Jesus  rests  solely  upon  the 
doubtful  interpretation  of  a  word  in  a  language 
which  he  neither  wrote  nor  spoke.    In  the  absence 
of  any  explicit  doctrine  of  ultimate  restoration, 
and  in  view  of  the  general  consensus  of  opinion  in 
the  Church  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  the  Univer- 
salist interpretation  scarcely  appears  rational  or 
acceptable. 

The  salvation  of  men,  however,  in  the  teaching 
of  Jesus,  depended  upon  the  acceptance  of  no 
dogmatic  standard  of  truth,  but  solely  upon  right- 
eous living.  "Unless  your  righteousness  exceed 
the  righteousness  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye 
can  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom."  "This 
do"  not  tJiis  believe,  "and    ye    shall    be  saved." 


112        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Herein,  Jesus  stood  upon  both  Jewish  and  rational 
ground ;  for  it  is  the  teaching  of  the  highest 
ethical  philosophy  of  the  present  day,  as  well 
as  of  Israel's  prophets,  that  supreme  happiness  is 
possible  only  to  those  who  "cease  to  do  evil,  and 
learn  to  do  well."  The  popular  Christian  doctrine 
of  a  vicarious  atonement  and  substituted  righteous- 
ness has  no  place  either  in  the  teachings  of  the 
Nazarene  prophet  or  in  the  ethics  of  Kant  or 
Spencer. 

Jesns'  Belief  in  Demoniacal  Influences. 

Together  with  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punish- 
ment, Jesus  also  accepted  the  current  superstitions 
of  the  existence  of  a  personal  devil,  and  of  the 
possibility  of  possession  or  obsession  by  evil  spir- 
its. The  word  "devil"  is  doubtless  of  Aryan  ori- 
gin. It  is  not  found  in  the  Old  Testament.  The 
devil  of  the  later  Judaism  was  identified  with  the 
Hebrew  Shethan,  or  Satan,  a  mythical  personage 
who  first  appears  in  Job  as  one  among  the  "sons 
of  God,"  a  trusted  messenger  and  servant  of 
Yahweh.  From  his  early  character  of  adversary 
or  accuser,  a  sort  of  prosecuting  attorney  of  Yah- 
weh's  court,  he  had  fallen,  under  the  influence  of 
the  Persian  dualism,  to  the  position  of  an  arch- 
enemy of  God  and  man.  His  prototype,  Set  or 
Setb,  in  the  Egyptian  mythology,  experienced  a 
similar  deterioration  after  the  Persian  conquest  of 
Egypt. 

The  alleged  facts  which  have  been  held  to  jus- 
tify the  belief  in  demoniacal  possession,  which  the 
Jews  brought  with  them  from  Babylon,  doubtless 


THE   RELIGION  OF  JESUS  113 

find  their  ratioaal  explanation  in  the  phenomena 
common  to  certain  nervous  disorders,  such  as  epi- 
lepsy and  hysteria,  which  prevail  in  a  more  aggra- 
vated form  among  a  rude,  ignorant,  and  supersti- 
tious population  than  under  more  favorable  social 
conditions.     It  is  this  class  of  disorders  which  is 
especially  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  a  power- 
ful will,  or  that  little  comprehended  but  very  posi- 
tive agency  popularly  known    as    hypnotism,  or 
"animal  magnetism."    We  shall  treat  this  subject 
hereafter  in  our  discussion  of  the  mythical  and 
miraculous  elements  in  the  gospel  narratives.     It 
is  suflacient  at  present  merely  to  allude  to  these 
facts  as  the  probable  natural  basis  for  the  belief 
honestly  held  by  Jesus  and  many  of  his  contem- 
poraries in  demoniacal  influences,  and  in  the  effi- 
cacy of  his  own  power  for  their  cure  or  amelio- 
ration. 

The  Kelation  of  Jeans  to  the  Cnrreut  Messianic 
Expectation. 

In  the  earlier  part  of  the  public  career  of  Jesus, 
he  appears  to  have  been  moved  solely  by  the  pro- 
found necessity  imposed  upon  him  by  the  belief  in 
the  speedy  advent  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  and 
by  his  perception  that  the  masses  of  his  people 
were  totally  unprepared  for  this  great  change.  He 
took  up  the  message  of  John  the  Baptist,  "The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand,"  and  preached  it 
to  the  common  people,  the  despised  "people  of  the 
land,"  who,  neglected  by  the  more  rigorous  Phari- 
saic teachers,  appealed  strongly  to  the  sympathetic 
nature  of  the  Galilean  prophet.     Such  as  these 


114        A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

eagerly  listened  to  his  teaching,  and  "heard  his 
message  gladly."  By  parable  and  apt  illustration, 
he  described  his  vision  of  the  heavenly  kingdom, 
and  impressed  upon  his  hearers  the  duty  of  in- 
stant preparation  in  view  of  the  immanence  of  the 
great  change.  He  appears  to  have  had  little 
thought  at  first  of  the  Messianic  expectation  as 
being  fulfilled  in  his  own  person.  He  was  the 
prophet  of  the  heavenly  kingdom, — the  "Son  of 
God,"  which  meant  simply  the  faithful  citizen  and 
messenger  of  God's  kingdom. 

The  people,  however,  full  of  the  hope  for  a  com- 
ing deliverer,  impressed  by  the  earnestness  of  his 
appeals,  the  depth  and  purity  of  his  moral  nature, 
his  strong,  magnetic  personality,  soon  hailed  him 
as  the  Messiah.  The  thought  grew  upon  him. 
What  if  he  was  indeed  the  chosen  one  of  Israel, 
the  "anointed  of  Yahweh,"  the  immediate  herald 
of  the  coming  change?  When  the  populace 
greeted  him  as  the  Son  of  David,  in  accordance 
with  the  popular  expectation  that  the  Messiah 
would  spring  from  the  royal  line  of  Israel,  he  at 
first  questions  his  disciples :  "But  whom  say  ye 
that  I  am?"  Upon  their  recognition  of  him  as  the 
Messiah,  he  does  not  indeed  directly  repel  the 
honor,  but  cautions  them  that  they  tell  no  man  oi 
this  thing.  A  little  later,  we  find  that  the  idea  has 
taken  full  possession  of  him ;  for  we  discover  him 
arguing  in  favor  of  his  own  Messianic  pretensions 
that  the  Messiah  cannot  be  the  "Son  of  David," 
since  David  calls  him  his  Lord  or  Master. 

At  the  time  of  his  final  journey  to  Jerusalem, 
he  has  become  fully  convinced  of  his  Messianic 


THE   RELIGION   OF   JESUS  115 

mission.     He  accepts  the  plaudits  of  the  people 
during  his  triumphal  entry  into  the  city,  and  his 
subsequent  bearing  before  and  during  his  trial  and 
crucifixion  likewise  attests  the  sincerity  of  his  be- 
lief.   It  is  not  impossible  that  he  expected  some 
miraculous  interposition  to  prevent  the  final  catas- 
trophe, as  would  be  indicated,  apparently,  by  the 
despairing  cry,  "My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?"   Mark,  who  coai3S   nearer    to  the 
primitive  tradition  than  either  of  the  other  evan- 
gelists, reports  this  and  certain  other  notable  ex- 
pressions of    Jesus  in   his    native   Syro-Chaldaic 
tongue.     This  agonized  expression,  so  natural  and 
human,  but  so  unlike  the  supernatural  Jesus  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel  and  our  popular  Christian  concep- 
tion, could  hardly  have  crept  into  the  gospel  nar- 
rative, unless  it  had  some  foundation  in  the  actual 
occurrence.     The  writer  of  the  First  Gospel  con- 
firms the  tradition  of  Mark ;  but  Luke,  illustrating 
an  advanced  development  of    Christology,  omits 
this  human  cry  of  almost  despairing  agony,  and 
substitutes  for  it  the  calm  acceptance  of  the  inevi- 
table in  the  final  words,  "Father,  into  thy  hands  I 
commend  my  spirit."     The  still  less  natural  and 
more  dramatic  writer  of  the  Logos  epic  makes  Jesus 
die  with  the  dignity  and  supernatural  endurance  of 
a  God,  fully  self-conscious  to  the  last,  and  deliber- 
ately conforming  his  actions   on  the  cross  to  the 
fulfilment  of  Scripture  : — 

"After  this,  Jesus,  knowing  that  all  things  were 
now  accomplished,  that  the  Scripture  might  be 
fulfilled,  saith,  I  thirst.  Now  there  was  set  a  ves- 
sel full  of  vinegar ;  and  they  filled  a  sponge  with 


116        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

vinegar,  and  put  it  upon  hyssop,  and  put  it  to  hia 
mouth.  When  Jesus,  therefore,  had  received  the 
vinegar,  he  said,  It  is  finished ;  and  he  bowed  his 
head,  and  gave  up  the  ghost." 

Coiiclnditig  Thoughts. 

In  this  lecture,  we  have  attempted,  fairly,  with 
no  bias  of  preconceived  opinions,  to  set  forth  the 
leading  features  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  on  its 
theological  side,  as  reported  in  the  Synoptical  Gos- 
pels. While  recognizing  the  fine  humanity  of  his 
doctrine  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  pro- 
found sincerity  of  all  his  beliefs,  there  is  evidently 
much  in  this  teaching  which  the  liberal  and  cult- 
ured thought  of  modern  times  has  forever  dis- 
carded, much  that  bears  the  impress  of  a  primi- 
tive and  ignorant  age  and  of  a  narrow  and 
restricted  intellectual  environment.  For  us  there 
is  no  encompassing  host  of  demons,  no  personal 
prince  of  evil,  no  bodily  resurrection,  no  eternal 
kingdom  of  immortals  to  be  established  upon  the 
earth.  If  we  still  hold  to  the  fatherhood  and  per- 
sonality of  God,  it  is  in  quite  a  different  sense 
from  that  embodied  in  the  simple,  anthropomor- 
phic conception  of  Jesus.  The  Messianic  doctrine 
of  the  Jews  is  to  us  a  beautiful  dream,  which  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth  did  not  fully  realize  either 
according  to  the  popular  expectation  or  his  own 
more  spiritual  interpretation.  Not  in  any  of  these 
theological  conceptions  do  we  find  the  secret  of  the 
influence  of  Jesus  upon  the  life  and  thought  of 
later  generations. 

In  this  brief  review,  we  have  discovered  no  strik- 


THE   RELIGION   OF  JESUS 


117 


ing  deviation  in  the  thought  of  Jesus  £rom  the 
current  beliefs  of  his  time  and  people.     Herein,  at 
least,  there  are  none  of  the  distinctive  features  of 
the  peculiar  philosophy  of  Buddhism,— no  hint  of 
Hindu  agnosticism  or  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Nir- 
vana as  the  summum  bonum  of  human  aspiration. 
The  entire  atmosphere  of  the  primitive  tradition 
of   the  synoptics,   after    eliminating  such  of    its 
supernatural  and  mythological  elements    as    are 
not  confirmed  by  the  consent  of  the  three  writers, 
is  Hebrew,  and  Hebrew  only.     The  Prophet  of 
Nazareth  moves  naturally  in  the  Palestine  of  eigh- 
teen centuries  ago:  he  breathes  its  peculiar  relig- 
ious and  social  atmosphere,  and  incarnates  its  lof- 
tiest moral  and  personal  characteristics.     Though 
transcending  the  ritualistic  formalism  of  his  time 
and  the  traditional  limitations  of    his    national 
religion,  we  may,  nevertheless,  repeat  as  a  truth  of 
history  his  own  judgment  of  his  relation  to  the 
law  and  religion  of  his  people,— He  came  not  to 
antagonize  or  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 


V. 

SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  THE  RELIGION 
OF  JESUS. 

Jeans'  Doctrine  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ilearen. 

The  religion  of  Jesus  would  by  no  means  be 
adequately  viewed  or  comprehended  in  its  entirety, 
if  regard  were  had  only  to  its  technically  religious 
or  theological  aspect.  Beside  its  Godward  look, 
its  attitude  toward  the  current  suparnaturalism  of 
the  time,  its  relations  of  consent  or  negation 
toward  the  ancient  faith  of  his  people,  it  had  also 
its  manward  look,  its  ethical  and  social  side.  In 
entering  upon  a  consideration  of  this  phase  of  the 
thought  and  teaching  of  the  Galilean  prophet,  we 
would  completely  fail  to  understand  it,  to  give  its 
several  precepts  their  proper  force  and  correct  in- 
terpretation, if  we  neglected  again,  and  even  more 
clearly  and  emphatically  than  heretofore,  to  strike 
the  key-note  of  his  entire  system  of  thought,  as  it 
is  revealed  to  us  in  his  doctrine  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  and  its  speedy  advent. 

In  his  general  conception  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom as  a  new  spiritual  and  social  order  to  be 
established  on  the  earth,  with  the  will  of  the  heav- 
enly Father  for  its  sole  and  perfect  law,  with  all 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS 


119 


evil  and  hurtful  couditions  completely  overcome 
and  destroyed ;  the  necessity  for  toil  obviated  by 
the  constant  production  of  all  necessary  articles  of 
food  through  the  spontaneous  fruitfulness  of  the 
regenerated  earth;  the  cessation  of  war  and  con- 
flict; the  destruction  even  of  death  itself  by  the 
complete  eradication  of  sin  through  which  death 
had  come  into  the  world,— Jesus  did  not  appar- 
ently differ  from  many  of  the  earnest  and  faithful 
followers  of  Judaism  in  his  generation,  among  the 
different  sects  of  the  Pharisees  and  the  "people  of 
the  land."    Pictures  of  this  "good  time  coming" 
were  drawn  from  the  older  prophets,  and  exag- 
gerated by  the  glowing  imagination  of  the  hope- 
ful and  faithful  representatives  of  the  faith  of 

Israel. 

"It  shall  come  to  pass  at  the  end  of  days  that 
the  mountain  of  Yahweh's  house  shall  be  estab- 
lished on  the  top  of  the  mountains,  and  shall  be 
exalted  above  the  hills;  and  all  nations  shall  flow 
into  it.     And  many  nations  shall  go  and  say,  Come 
ye  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  Yahweh, 
to  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob ;   and  he  will 
teach  us  of  his  ways,  and  we  will  walk  in  his 
paths  :  for  out  of  Zion  shall  go  forth  the  law,  and 
the  word  of  Yahweh  from  Jerusalem.     And  he 
shall  judge  among  the  nations,  and  shall  rebuke 
among  many  peoples;  and  they  shall  beat  their 
swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into 
pruning-hooks :    nation  shall    not    lift  up  sword 
against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any 
more."* 

•  Isaiah  ii.,  2-4. 


120        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

In  the  writings  of  the  rabbis,  we  find  wonderful 
pictures  of  this  heavenly  kingdom.  Wild  animals 
are  to  become  tame  and  harmless,  "the  lion  and  the 
lamb  shall  lie  down  together" ;  immense  bunches 
of  grapes  are  to  burden  the  vines ;  springs  of  living 
water  are  to  burst  from  the  barren  rock,  as  under 
the  rod  of  Moses,  at  the  desire  of  whosoever  may 
thirst ;  and  life  is  to  be  a  continual  round  of  "de- 
light in  the  law  of  the  Lord."  There  are  many 
evidences,  outside  the  New  Testament,  that  this 
expectation  was  held  by  the  early  Christians  as 
well  as  by  the  Jews.  Irenseus,  writing  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  second  century,  declares  that 
Papias,  an  earlier  Christian  writer,  quotes  from 
the  memoirs  of  the  apostles,  as  genuine  words  of 
Jesus,  this  saying:  "The  day  shall  come  when 
each  vine  shall  grow  with  ten  thousand  boughs, 
each  bough  with  ten  thousand  branches,  each 
branch  with  ten  thousand  twigs,  each  twig  with 
ten  thousand  bunches,  each  bunch  with  ten  thou- 
sand grapes,  each  grape  shall  yield  twenty  five 
measures  of  wine." 

The  Speedy  Advent  of  the  Heareuly  Kingdom. 

The  special  thought  of  Jesus,  that  wherein  he 
differed  from  many  of  the  Jews  around  him,  that 
which  impelled  him  to  his  prophetic  labor  and 
which  dominated  and  gave  color  to  his  ethical  sys- 
tem, was  the  profound  conviction  that  this  great 
change  was  "at  hand."  *  It  was  coming  now, — in 
this  generation.  "There  be  some  standing  here 
which  shall  not  taste  death  till  they  have  seen  the 

*Marki.,15;  Matt,  iii.,  2,  etc. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  121 

kingdom  of  God  come  with  power."     Such  is  the 
assurance  of  Jesus  as  preserved  in  the  oldest  gos- 
pel.*   "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  All  these  things 
shall  come  upon  this  generation."  .  .  .  "So  likewise 
ye,  when  ve  shall  see  all  these  things,  know  that 
it  is  near,  even  at  the  doors.     Verily  I  say  unto 
you,  This  generation  shall  not  pass  till  all  these 
things  be  fulfilled."     These  are  the  words  of  Jesus 
as  reported  by  Matthew.f     This  is  the  concurrent 
testimony  of   all  the  synoptical  writers  in  many 
similar  texts,  derived  incontestably  from  the  prim- 
itive tradition  out  of  which  they  drew  their  mate- 
rials for  the  biographies  of  the  Galilean  prophet. 
No  teaching  in  the  New  Testament  is  so  plainly 
presented  or  so  frequently  reiterated  as  this.    It  is 
inconceivable  that  these  assurances  should  have 
entered  into  the  gospel  narratives,  unless  Jesus 
really  uttered  them ;  for  no  writer  of  after  times, 
desiring  to  present  the  claims  of  Jesus  as  an  in- 
fallible teacher,  could  possibly  have  invented  and 
referred  to  him  these  unfulfilled  promises  and  pro- 
phetic utterances  which  by  no  possibility  could 
ever  be  fulfilled,  since  the  time  plainly  set  for 
their  accomplishment  had  already  long  since  passed 
away.     These  assurances  of  Jesus  are  at  once  the 
proof  of  his  reality  as  an  historical  personage  and 
of  his  human  fallibility  and  liability  to  error, — a 
fact  of  the  most  striking  significance.^ 

•Mark  ix.,  1.  t  Matt,  xvi.,  28 ;  xxiv.,  33,  34;  xxiii.,  36, 

etc.    Compare  Luke  ix.,  27;  x.,  U ;  xii.,  40;  xxi.,  8.  32,  etc. 

tThe  current  orthodox  claim  of  the  fulfilment  of  these 
prophecies  in  the  alleged  phenomena  of  the  "day  of  Pen- 
tecost" is  wholly  unsatisfactory.  Apart  from  the  want  of 
evidence  sufficient  to  establish  the  historical  verity  at 
these  phenomena,  they  in  no  manner  fulfil  the  condition! 


122        A   STUDY   OF   PlilJIITIVE   CHRISTIANirT 

The  Kiiigdoui  of  Heaven  described  iu  Parables* 

Believing  thus  in  the  speedy  advent  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  and  perceiving  the  blindness 
and  unpreparedness  of  his  people,  the  overmaster- 
ing desire  of  Jesus  was  to  arouse  them  from  their 
apathy,  and  induce  them  to  make  clean  their  lives 
iu  preparation  for  the  new  life  which  awaited  the 
"sons  of  God," — the  children  of  the  kingdom.  To 
those  who  heard  him  willingly  and  accepted  some- 
thing of  his  message,  he  explained  the  nature  of 
this  new  life  in  apt  and  beautiful  allegories.  In 
the  parable  of  the  Sower,*  he  thus  taught  that  the 
preparation  for  the  coming  kingdom  was  an  in- 
ward process,  an  ethical  regeneration  of  the  soul, 
and  not  merely  an  external  obedience  to  the 
precepts  of  the  law.f  In  the  parable  of  the  mus- 
tard seed,t  he  presented  the  hopeful  assurance 
that  the  acceptance  of  the  kingdom,  "in  spirit  and 
in  truth,"  by  a  few  humble  believers,  would  ulti- 
mately result  in  the  world's  regeneration.  In  the 
parable  of  the  tares,  §  he  assured  his  disciples  that 
the  faithful  doers  of  the  word,  though  few  in 
number,  would  be  preferred  to  the  many  whc 
carelessly  neglected  or  wilfully  rejected  his  warn- 
ings.   In  the  allegories  of  the  treasure  hidden  in 

of  the  advent  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  ns  set  forth  in  the 
prophecies.  The  belief  in  the  second  advent  of  Christ  as 
an  event  yet  to  occur,  which  his  been  common  in  all  ages 
of  the  Christian  Church,  testifies  to  the  admission  of  theo- 
logians that  the  New  Testament  prophecies  are  yet  unful- 
filled, but  fails  to  take  cognizance  of  thvit  clear  and  vital 
element  in  the  prophecies  which  limits  the  period  of 
tbeir  accomplishment  to  the  then  living  generation. 

•Matt,  xiii  ,  3-23;  Mark  iv.,  3-15;  Luke  viii.,  6-15. 

t  Compare  Luke  xvii..  20,  21. 

$Matt.  xiii.,  31,  32;  Mark  iv.,  30-32;  Luke  xiii.,  18, 19. 

§Matt.  xiu.,  24-30, 36-43. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  123 

the  field  and  of  the  "pearl  of  great  price,"*  he 
solemnly  impressed  his  belief  that  all  else  was  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  necessity  of  "seeking 
first  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  righteousness." 
In  the  parable  of  the  householder,!  he  held  out 
the  merciful  assurance  that  even  late  repentance 
and  return  to  righteous  living  would  secure  all  the 
rewards  of  the  kingdom,  in  which  "the  first  should 
be  last,  and  the  last  first."  In  the  parable  of  the 
nobleman  and  the  servants,:}:  he  illustrated  the 
truth  that  the  faithful  laborer  should  be  abun- 
dantly rewarded,  while  he  who  perceived  the  truth 
without  laboring  to  spread  it  should  be  surely 
punished. 

Jesns  mot  a  Zealot. — Sis  Doctriae  of  Noa-ISesist- 

ance. 

Jesus  taught  that  the  best  preparation  for  the 
coming  kingdom  was  to  commence  now  to  live  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  ideal  life  of  the  sons  of  God. 
The  time  was  short  before  the  great  change  would 
take  place :  therefore,  it  was  better  to  bear  the  ills 
of  the  present  life  with  patience  and  without  phys- 
ical resistance  rather  than  increase  them  by  foment- 
ing insurrection  against  the  "powers  that  be,"  thus 
bringing  down  upon  his  followers  the  persecution 
and  oppression  of  the  government.  This  thought 
appears  to  lie  at  the  foundation  of  his  teaching  iu 
regard  to  the  non-resistance  of  evil.  "Resist  not 
evil,"  he  said.  "If  any  man  smite  thee  on  the 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.     And  if 

*  Matt,  xiii.,  44-46.  t  Matt,  xx.,  1-16.  J  Luke  xix., 

11-27. 


124        A   STUDY   OF   PRlittlTIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

any  man  will  sue  thee  at  the  law  and  take  away 
thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also."*  He  for- 
bade his  disciples  to  take  with  them  either  gold  or 
staves  in  their  journeys.f 

When  his  enemies  sought  to  entrap  him  by 
asking  whether  it  were  lawful  to  render  tribute 
unto  Caesar,  he  pointed  to  the  emperor's  image  and 
superscription  on  the  current  coin  of  the  empire, 
and  said,  "Render  unto  Csesar  the  things  that  are 
Caesar's,  but  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's."  J 
In  assuming  this  attitude  toward  the  existing  gov- 
ernment, he  at  once  thwarted  the  machinations  of 
his  more  active  and  violent  enemies,  who  sought 
to  identify  him  with  the  party  of  the  Kanaim,  or 
Zealots, — who  taught  the  duty  of  resisting  taxa- 
tion and  abjuring  the  authority  of  the  Romans, — 
and  disappointed  his  more  literal  and  patriotic 
followers,  who  believed  that  the  Messiah,  in  his 
own  person,  would  lead  the  faithful  of  Israel  to 
overthrow  and  destroy  the  oppressor  by  force  of 
arms,  and  thus  re-establish  the  kingdom  of  the 
house  of  David. 

JTesns'  Coiuuinitislic   Teaching. —  His    Gxaltatiou 
o£  Povert}'. 

As  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  to  constitute  a 
sort  of  ideal  community,  where  all  would  be  equal 
before  the  heavenly  Father,  it  appears  also  that 
Jesus  and  his  disciples  attempted  to  realize  this 
social  ideal  in  their  intercourse  with  the  world  and 

*Matt.  v.,  38^1;  Luke  vi.,  27-35. 

tSo  Matt.  X.,  10,  and  Luke  ix.,  3.  Mark,  on  the  con- 
trary, contains  an  express  command  to  take  a  stafE  with 
thera(V[ark  vi.,8). 

J  Matt,  xxii.,  17-22;  Mark  xii.,  13-17;  Luke  xx.,  21-26. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  126 

with  each  other.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  condi- 
tion of  discipleship  that  the  true  believer  should 
relinquish  his  individual  property,  and  hold  all 
things  in  common  with  his  brethren.  One  of  the 
disciples  was  therefore  appointed  the  treasurer,  or 
custodian  of  their  common  fund.*  Not  only  com- 
munity of  interest,  but  the  blessedness  of  poverty 
appears  to  have  been  explicitly  taught  by  the 
Galilean  prophet.  To  the  rich  young  man  who  had 
fulfilled  the  entire  law  in  its  spirit,  loving  God 
and  dealing  justly  with  his  fellow-man  from  his 
youth  up,  he  still  further  commanded  that  he 
should  sell  all  that  he  possessed,  and  give  the 
proceeds  thereof  to  the  poor,  before  he  could  be 
accounted  a  true  disciple.f 

Jesus  was  not  alone  among  his  people  in  his 
abhorrence  of  riches  and  exaltation  of  poverty. 
The  long  conflicts  of  the  Jews  with  foreign  ene- 
mies, the  destruction  and  spoliation  of  their  cities 
and  their  sacred  temple,  and  the  later  period  of 
lawless  violence  during  the  reign  of  Herod,  seem 
to  have  given  rise  among  them  to  two  diverse 
ways  of  regarding  poverty  and  riches.  Those  who 
dwelt  in  the  larger  towns  and  cities — the  artisans, 
tradesmen,  and  inheritors  of  the  priestly  office  and 
its  emoluments — became  very  frugal  and  saving, 
careful  to  obtain  the  greatest  possible  advantage 
in  bargain  and  trade.  Of  this  class  were  the 
sellers  of  doves  and  changers  of  money  in  the 
court  of  the  temple,  whom  Jesus  in  his  indigna- 
tion is  said  to  have  driven  out  with  a  whip  of 

•So  John  xiii.,  29,  followiDg  a  generally  current  tsraf 
dition. 
t  Matt,  xix.,  16-22 ;  Mark  x.,  17-22 ;  Luke  xviii.,  18-24. 


126        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

small  cords.  Others,  however,  accepted  their  pov- 
erty as  the  righteous  appointment  of  God,  to  rebel 
against  which  was  impiety.  Certain  religious  en- 
thusiasts, particularly  among  the  Galilean  peas- 
ants who  believed  in  the  speedy  advent  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  taught  that  it  was  wrong  to 
accumulate  property,  and  that  all  in  excess  of 
one's  personal  needs  should  be  given  to  the  poor. 
In  the  Jerusalem  Talmud  is  preserved  an  account 
of  Rabbi  Jeshobeb,  a  contemporary  of  Jesus,  who 
gave  all  his  property  to  the  poor.  For  so  doing, 
he  was  reproved  by  the  celebrated  teacher,  Gama- 
liel, at  whose  feet  Paul  sat.* 

Less  than  a  century  later,  this  improvident 
mania  had  become  so  prevalent  that  a  convention 
of  rabbis,  held  at  Usha,  a  town  of  upper  Galilee, 
decreed  that  no  one  should  bestow  upon  the  poor 
more  than  one-fifth  of  all  he  possessed.!  The 
Essenes  and  disciples  of  John  the  Baptist  despised 
riches,  commanded  alms-giving  and  the  equal  dis- 
tribution or  communistic  possession  of  property. 
These  sects,  as  well  as  Jesus  and  his  disciples, 
believed  that  the  poor  would  enjoy  special  privi- 
leges in  the  heavenly  kingdom.  Ingenious  at- 
tempts have  been  made  by  Christian  commenta- 
tors to  soften  or  explain  away  the  saying  of  Jesus  : 
"It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom 
of  God."t  They  have  even  gone  so  far  as  to 
invent  a  Greek  word,  Kafiikog,  defined  as  a  heavy 

♦Jerusalem  Talmud,  tract  Peah,  15,  b. 
t Babylonian  Talmud,  tract  Kethuboth,  50,  a;  drachin, 
28,  a.    See  alf=o  Reiian,  Vie  de  J^siis,  p.  169,  ff. 
tMarkx.,  25;  Matt,  xix.,  24;  Luke  xviii.,  25. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  127 

cord  or  rope,  thus  suggesting  difficulty,  but  not 
impossibility,  in  the  salvation  of  the  rich.  The 
word,  however,  is  spurious,  being  found  nowhere 
outside  the  fertile  imaginations  of  its  originators. 
The  "needle's  eye"  has  also  been  explained  as  the 
designation  of  a  low  gate  in  the  city  walls  of 
Jerusalem,  through  which  a  camel  could  only  pass 
by  kneeling  and  being  stripped  of  its  load,  the 
proverb  being  thus  robbed  of  its  terrors,  and  made 
to  convey  only  the  trite  suggestion  of  the  impossi- 
bility of  taking  worldly  riches  into  the  life  beyond 
the  grave. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  Jesus  in  this  say- 
ing merely  quoted  or  adapted  a  common  Semitic 
proverb,  which  is  found  in  a  slightly  altered  form 
in  the  Talmud  and  the  Koran  as  well  as  in  the 
New  Testament.*  That  his  own  interpretation 
was  very  literal  appears  not  only  from  his  admo- 
nition of  the  rich  young  man,  but  also  in  the  par- 
able of  Lazarus  and  the  rich  man  :  the  former  of 
whom  reposes  after  death  in  the  bosom  of  Abra- 
ham, for  no  virtue,  so  far  as  we  know,  save  his 
poverty ;  while  the  latter  is  suffering  the  torments 
of  unquenchable  fire,  for  no  reason,  so  far  as  we 
know,  save  his  riches.f 

In  the  parable  of  the  wedding  feast,  also,  Jesus 
appears  to  have  taught  that  only  the  poor  could 
inherit  the  heavenly  kingdom.^  He  pronounced 
blessings  upon  the  poor  and  curses  upon  the  rich.§ 
He  commended  his  disciples  to  "lend,  hoping  for 

*See  Babylonian  Talmud,  tract  Bera  Koth,55,h;  Baba 
metsia,  30,  h.    Koran,  Sura  vii.,  38. 

t  Luke  xvi.,  19-26.  t  Matt,  xxii.,  1-11.    Compare  Lake 

xiv.,  12-14, 1&-24.  §  Luke  vi.,  20, 24, 25. 


128        A   STUDY   OF  PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIiVNITY 

nothing  in  return."  He  forbade  them  to  "lay  up 
treasures  upon  the  earth."  He  bade  them  "take 
no  thought  of  the  morrow,"  but  live  from  day  to 
day  like  the  lilies  of  the  field  "which  toil  not."  * 
He  ordered  them  to  make  no  provision  for  their 
journeys,  but  to  solicit  alms  everywhere  among 
those  who  would  receive  them,  and  to  shake  off 
the  dust  of  their  feet  against  that  house  which 
should  refuse  to  entertain  them.f  He  declared 
plainly  the  impossibility  of  at  once  serving  God 
and  Mammon.J 

The  attempts  to  soften,  discredit,  or  explain 
away  these  explicit  teachings  of  Jesus,  whUe  their 
obvious  relation  to  his  belief  in  the  speedy  advent 
of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  constituting  their  only 
rational  explanation,  is  overlooked  or  ignored, 
have  been  both  ingenious  and  amusing.  They 
stand,  however,  as  certainly  reflecting  the  thought 
of  the  Master  as  anything  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament.  The  earliest  communities  of  Jewish 
Christians  accepted  these  doctrines ;  and  their 
successors  derived  from  them  the  designation  of 
"Ebionites,"  from  the  Hebrew  Ebionim,  "the 
poor," — a  designation  which  came  to  be  regarded 
as  synonymous  with  the  terms  "saint"  and  "friend 
of  God." 

The   Pessimism   of  Jesus. —  His   Xiewa   of    mar- 
riage and  the  Family. 

It  would  appear  from  all  these  considerations 
that  Jesus'  view  of  existing  society  was  essentially 

*  Matt,  vi.,  19-21,  28-32 ;  Luke  xii.,  27-34. 

t  Matt.  X.,  8-15  ;  Mark  vi.,  8-11 ;  Luke  ix.,  3-5. 

%  Matt,  vi.,  24. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  129 

pessimistic.  The  present  and  natural  social  order 
he  regarded  as  not  worth  saving.  Its  inevitable 
burdens  were  to  be  endured  while  they  must,  in 
hope  that  patient  endurance  would  speedily  work 
out  "a  more  exceeding  weight  of  glory." 

In  reference  to  the  domestic  relations,  Jesus  ex- 
hibited the  same  tendencies  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing which  he  manifested  toward  society  in  general. 
He  declared  that  in  the  heavenly  kingdom  there 
would  be  "neither  marrying  nor  giving  in  mar- 
riage." *  Endeavoring  to  conform  himself  to  this 
ideal  condition  in  the  midst  of  the  existing  order, 
he  formed  no  family  relations  himself.  He  even 
withdrew  from  the  companionship  of  his  father's 
family,  and  declared  that  his  true  disciples,  fol- 
lowing his  example,  must  "forsake  father  and 
mother,  brother  and  sister,  husband  and  wife," 
and  devote  themselves  wholly  to  preparation  for 
the  coming  kingdom.  His  true  relations,  he  de- 
clared, were  his  disciples  and  foUowers.f 

Yet  we  are  not  to  suppose  that  his  thought  and 
action  herein  were  occasioned  by  any  deficiency  of 
the  natural  affections.  His  love  for  little  children 
was  not  the  manifestation  of  a  disposition  natu- 
rally cold  or  ascetic.  Of  such,  he  declared,  was  the 
kingdom  of  God.  "Whosoever  shall  not  receive 
the  kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child,"  he  affirmed, 
"he  shall  not  eater  therein."  X     He  took  little  chil- 

*Matt.  xxii.,30;  Mark  xii.,25;  Luke  xx.,  U5.  According 
to  another  text  (Matt,  xix.,  lC-12),  he  even  countenanced 
self-mutilation  as  an  alternative  to  marriage. 

t  Matt,  viii.,  21,  22;  x.,  34-38;  xix.,  29;  xii.,  46-50;  Mark 
X.,  29,30;  iii.,  31-35;  Luke  ix.,  59-62;  xiv.,  26;  xvlii.,  29,  30; 
Viii.,  19-26. 

$Mark  X.,  15;  Luke  xviii.,  17. 


130         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITT 

dreu  in  his  arms  and  blessed  them,  rebuking  his 
disciples  when  they  would  prevent  their  mothers 
from  bringing  them  into  his  presence.*  "Take 
heed  that  ye  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones," 
was  his  command  to  his  followers.  He  appears  to 
have  regarded  children  as  representatives  of  that 
purity  and  simplicity  of  character  and  that  sin- 
cerity of  faith  and  trust  which  he  deemed  essential 
to  the  members  of  the  ideal  community  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom. 

The  relations  o£  Jesus  with  his  disciples,  and 
with  those  families  who  received  and  entertained 
him,  appear  to  have  been  always  friendly  and 
social.  In  this  respect,  certainly,  he  was  no  as- 
cetic. He  dined  with  Pharisees  and  Publicans 
alike,t  and  was  even  accused  by  his  enemies  of 
being  "gluttonous  and  a  wine-bibber."  Herein,  he 
resembled  neither  the  Essenes  nor  the  disciples  of 
the  Baptist,  who,  like  the  Nazarites  of  old,  were 
total  abstainers,  and  lived  on  the  most  spare  and 
frugal  diet. 

His  views  of  the  sacredness  of  the  marriage 
relation,  regarded  as  a  necessary  accompaniment 
of  the  existing  social  order,  were  of  the  most  exi- 
gent character.  He  forbade  divorce  save  for  the 
single  cause  of  adultery; J  but  he  also  defined 
adultery  as  the  inward  desire  of  the  heart,  which, 
if  admitted  literally  as  a  sufficient  cause  for  di- 
vorce, would  perhaps  open  the  doors  as  widely  as  is 
desired  by  any  of  our  modern  social  reformers.§ 

*Matt.  xix.,  13-16;  Mark  x.,  13, 14, 16;  Luke  xviii.,  15, 16. 
tMatt.  ix.,  10-17;  xi.,  18, 19;  Luke  vii.,  33,  34,  36. 
JMatt.  xix.,  3-9. 
§  Compare  Mark  x.,  2-12.    In  tbia  older  and  perhaps  more 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  131 

Doubtless,  his  doctrine  of  divorce,  also,  can  only  be 
rightly  estimated  as  it  is  related  to  his  belief  in 
the  speedy  coming  of  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

Bis  Views  of  Education  aud  Ijabor. 

Jesus  nowhere  commends  education  or  the  sys- 
tematic cultivation  of  the  mind.  Literary  or  scien- 
tific attainments  formed  no  part  of  his  own  per- 
sonal equipment,  nor  did  he  conceive  of  them  as 
necessary  or  valuable  to  others.  They  were  not  an 
essential  part  of  the  preparation  for  the  kingdom 
of  the  future,  wherein  all  useful  knowledges  would 
arise  in  the  mind  spontaneously  by  a  divine  intu- 
ition. 

Opposing  the  acquisition  of  property,  and  ad- 
juring his  disciples  to  live  as  the  lilies  which  toil 
not,  he  naturally  refrained  from  any  explicit  rec- 
ognition of  the  necessity,  importance,  and  honor- 
ableness  of  labor.  Incidentally,  indeed,  he  de- 
clared that  "the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,"  *— 
a  principle  which,  carried  to  its  logical  conclusion, 
would  conflict  radically  with  every  system  of  ser- 
vile labor.  Yet  he  nowhere  expressly  recognizes, 
either  in  approval  or  condemnation,  the  existing 
iustitution  of  chattel  slavery, — an  institution  which, 
in  the  subsequent  evolution  of  society,  became  a 
constantly  aggravated  social  evil.     Had  he  given 

reliable  version,  the  prohibition  of  divorce  is  absolute,  not 
even  adultery  or  fornication  being  recosrmzed  as  a  legiti- 
mate cause  for  divorcement.  This  would  of  course  deprive 
the  above  suggestion  of  all  force  or  pertinency. 

•Luke  x.,7.  Tne  connection,  however,  implies  only  the 
enunciation  of  the  right  of  the  disciplfis  to  food  and  lodg- 
ing—the bare  necessities  of  life— whi:e  they  were  prose- 
cuting their  missionary  labors. 


132        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

it  a  thought,  doubtless,  like  the  apostle  who  re- 
turned the  fugitive  Onesimus,  he  would  have 
deemed  it  better  to  endure  the  evil  for  a  time  with- 
out protest  rather  than  to  interfere  directly  with  a 
social  order  which  was  so  soon  to  pass  away. 

The  Ethical  Teaching  of  Jesns. 

The  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus  finds  its  highest 
illustration  in  the  Golden  Rule  and  the  collection 
of  aphorisms,  beatitudes,  and  allegorical  sayings 
known  as  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.*  Perfection 
in  practical  righteousness  is  herein  held  up  as  the 
end  and  object  of  all  human  endeavors.  Happi- 
ness and  misery,  here  and  hereafter,  are  declared 
to  depend  upon  the  character  and  actions  of  the 
individual.f  By  these  he  will  be  judged  and 
known,  as  the  tree  is  known  by  its  fruit.J  The 
teachers  of  religion  are  to  be  tested,  not  by  their 
professions,  but  by  their  practical  works  ;  and  the 
people  are  warned  against  "false  prophets  who 
come  in  sheep's  clothing,  while  inwardly  they  are 
as  ravening  wolves." 

Everywhere,  the  inward  motive  and  purpose  of 
the  heart  is  regarded  as  the  supreme  test  of  char- 
acter rather  than  outward  observance  or  appear- 
ance. It  is  not  the  act  alone,  but  the  sinful  thought 
which  constitutes  adultery.§  Not  he  alone  who 
kills,  but  he  who  is  angry  with  his  brother  without 
a  cause,  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment.  || 
Gifts  placed  upon  the  altar  wnile  anger  is  in  the 
heart  are  of  no  avail.     "First  be  reconciled  to  thy 

•  Matt.  v.-Tii.      t  Matt,  vii.,  16, 2t ,  etc.      t  Matt,  vil.,  15-20. 
§  Matt.  T.,  28.       U  Matt,  v.,  22. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS 


133 


brother,   then  come  and  offer  thy  gift."*     The 
formality  of  an  oath  adds  nothing  to  the  simple 
majesty  of  the  truth.     "Let  your  communication 
be  yea,  yea,  nay,  nay;  for  whatsoever  is  more 
than  these  cometh  of  evil."t     Alms  given  in  the 
sight  of  men  possess  no  saving  virtue.    "When 
thou  doest  thine  alms,  do  not  sound  a  trumpet 
before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in  the  synagogues 
and  in  the  streets,  that  they  may  have  glory  of 
men.    I  say  unto  you.  They  have  their  reward. 
But  when  thou  doest  alms,  let  not  thy  right  hand 
know  what  thy  left  hand  doeth  :  that  thine  alms 
may  be  in  secret :  and  thy  Father,  who  seeth  in 
secret,  shall  reward  thee  openly."  t     A  like  secrecy, 
as  we  have  seen,  was  commanded  in  prayer,  as  it 
was  also  in  f  asting.§ 

The  honest  scorn  of  pretence  and  hypocrisy 
which  characterizes  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  his 
virile  denunciation  of  evil  in  high  places,— of  the 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  sit  on  the  high  seats  in 
the  synagogues  and  devour  widows'  houses,  and 
for  a  pretence  make  long  prayers,  ||  —is  little  like 
the  conventional  meek  and  lowly  Saviour  of  the 
current  emasculated  Orthodoxy  of  the  present  day, 
but  resembles  rather  the  lofty  courage  and  fearless 
preaching  of  the  ancient  prophets,  or  the  plain- 
speaking  of  the  American  Abolitionists,  and  justi- 
fies the  fine  conception  of  Thomas  Hughes  of  the 
"manliness"  of  Jesus. 

Yet  on  his  tenderer  side,  as  illustrated  in  the 
beatitudes  and  many  of  the  parables,  there  is  a 

•  Matt,  v.,  23,  24.  t  Matt,  v.,  33-37. _  t  Matt.  vi..  1^. 

5  Matt.  Ti.l  6, 6, 16-18.       II  Matt.  xxiu. ;  Luke  xi.,  37-M. 


134        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

felicity  of  presentation,  a  gentle  persuasiveness 
and  "sweet  reasonableness,"  which  must  have 
been  most  winning  and  attractive.  It  contrasts 
strongly  with  the  dry,  metaphysical  reasoning  of 
the  philosophers,  appealing  only  to  a  few  culti- 
vated intellects,  or  with  the  sublimated  mysti- 
cism of  the  Brahmanical  schools;  and  no  less 
strongly  with  the  hair-splitting  logic  and  dog- 
matic appeal  to  traditional  technicalities  of  the 
contemporary  rabbis.  Jesus  was  no  philosopher ; 
his  simple  idealism  was  free  from  the  mysticism  of 
the  schools;  he  propounded  no  logical  or  deeply 
reasoned  system  of  belief.  He  accepted  the  crude 
cosmogonical  and  cosmological  notions  of  his  time 
and  nation  without  question.  He  taught  the 
simple,  strong,  natural  morality  of  an  exception- 
ally fine  ethical  nature,  fed  by  the  nourishing 
stimulus  of  the  Hebrew  prophets.  He  did  not 
stop  to  argue  the  question  with  his  hearers :  his 
vital  words  were  spoken  with  the  straightforward 
earnestness  of  one  who  stood  upon  the  firm  foun- 
dation of  assured  inner  conviction.  "He  taught  as 
one  having  authority,  and  not  as  the  scribes." 

His  Doctrine  of  the  Forsirenesa  of  Sins* 

Upon  one  point  only,  besides  his  belief  in  future 
punishment,  he  appears  to  have  been  in  concur- 
rence with  the  dogmatic  statements  of  modern 
Orthodoxy:  he  accepted,  apparently,  the  current 
Jewish  doctrine  of  the  divine  forgiveness  and  re- 
mission of  sins,*  —  the  natural  and  humane  ac- 

*See  Ex.  xxxii.,  32;  Ps.  Ixxviii.,  38;  xcix.,  8;  ciii.,  3;  Jer. 
XXXI.,  34;  Isa.  xxxiii.,  34;  Dan.  ix.,  9,  etc. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  135 

companiment  of  an  arbitrary  system  of  morality, 
based  upon  alleged  revealed  commandments  of  the 
Deity.      To  this  he  added  the  belief   that  this 
power  of  forgiving  sins  and  cancelling  the  natural 
results  thereof  was  committed  by  the  Father  to 
the  Messiah,  or  "  Son  of  Man,"  as  his  duly  ap- 
pointed representative  or  servant  *    This  doctrine, 
however,  in  his  mind,  did  not  descend  to  the  gross- 
ness  of  the  modern  theory  of  a  vicarious  atone- 
ment.    The  forgiveness  of  sins  was  conditioned, 
not  upon  the  acceptance  of  any  dogmatic  belief  or 
the  substitution  of   an  innocent  victim  for  the 
guilty,    but    solely  upon    repentance,— an    inner 
moral  change  in  the  direction  of  righteous  living, 
attested  and  assured  by  the  free  and  full  forgive- 
ness of  their  enemies  on  the  part  of  the  sinners.f 

medera  Criticisms  upon  the  Ethical  System  of 
Jesas. 

The  ethical  teachings  of  Jesus  have  been  criti- 
cised from  two  quite  different  stand-points,  which 
may  be  distinguished  as  the  practical  and  the  ideal. 
On  the  one  hand,  it  is  affirmed  that  his  moral  in- 
structions are  unpractical  and  impossible  to  apply 
to  the  affairs  of  our  every-day  life,  because  they 
are  too  exclusively  altruistic.  Modern  society,  it 
is  claimed,  could  not  exist,  if  we  were  to  leave  evil 
unresisted,  if  we  were  to  turn  the  other  cheek  to 
the  smiter  after  having  been  once  unjustly 
stricken,  if  we  were  to  give  our  cloak  unasked  to 

•  Matt,  ix.,  1-6,  etc.;  Mark  iii.,  29. 
rMatt.  vi.,  12, 14, 15;  Luke  vi.,  37;  xvii.,  3,  ». 


136        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  beggar  who  had  demanded  and  received  our 
coat  or  to  the  thief  who  had  stolen  it. 

It  appears  quite  evident,  however,  from  our  pre- 
vious consideration  of  these  questions  that  this 
extreme  altruism  was  not  intended  for  application 
during  a  long  continuance  of  the  natural  social 
order.  It  is  due  almost  wholly  to  the  erroneous 
belief  of  Jesus  that  the  present  order  of  society 
was  to  endure  but  for  a  day ;  that  a  new,  divine, 
and  eternal  order  was  soon  to  be  established  in  its 
place.  Had  he  looked  forward  to  what  we  may 
now  look  back  upon, — to  many  centuries  of  con- 
tinuance under  the  old  social  order,  to  a  natural 
evolution  in  human  affairs  instead  of  the  super- 
natural revolution  which  he  anticipated, — his  teach- 
ing might,  and  doubtless  would,  have  been  greatly 
modified  in  some  of  these  particulars. 

Nevertheless,  we  have  reason  to  be  profoundly 
grateful  for  the  vision  of  a  perfect  social  order 
which  is  suggested  by  these  ideal  conceptions  of 
the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.  It  is  by  such  visions  as 
these  that  the  world  is  lifted  up  and  led  onward  to 
higher  planes  of  thought  and  life.  Like  a  rift  in 
the  clouds  through  which  the  sunlight  streams, 
they  gladden  the  hearts  of  men  with  the  promise 
of  diviner  possibilities  in  the  life  that  now  is.  In 
our  way,  we  also  may  look  forward  to  a  higher 
order  of  human  society  to  be  established  upon  the 
earth.  Each  and  all  of  us  may  in  some  manner  so 
live  as  to  hasten  the  period  of  its  fulfilment.  We, 
too,  may  pray  with  the  disciples  of  the  Nazarene 
that  the  kingdom  of  God  may  come,  and  his  will 
be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  137 


Prof.  Francis  W.  Newman  and  other  able  writ- 
ers have  criticised  the  ethical   appeals  of  Jesus 
from  quite  another  stand-point,— because  they  are 
not  sufficiently  altruistic  in  their  foundation.     It  is 
affirmed  by  this  class  of  critics  that  they  are  almost 
universally  based  upon  self-interest  instead  of  a 
desire  to  benefit  society  as  a  whole  or  to  do  right 
because  it  is  right.    Even  the  Gk)lden  Rule,  it  is 
alleged,  would  measure  the  love  for  the  neighbor 
by  the  love  for  self.     The  beatitudes  are   each 
accompanied  by  some  promise  of  selfish  reward,— 
the  offered  attainment  of  some  future  happiness. 
The  entire  moral  system  of  Jesus  rests  upon  the 
accompanying  assurance  of  eternal  happiness  in 
the  heavenly  kingdom  for  the  workers  of  right- 
eousness,  and  the  co-ordinate   threat  of    eternal 
misery  for  those  who  in  this  life  fail  to  accept 
the  conditions  of  salvation. 

The  most  recent  attempts  to  establish  morality 
upon  an  assured  scientific  basis,  however,  recog- 
nize the  necessity  of  giving  due  weight   to  the 
egoistic  as  well  as  the  altruistic  side  of  human 
action.      An    extreme   and    unqualified    altruism 
would  defeat  the  rational  end  of  all  moral  action 
by  speedily  destroying  the  life  or  health  of  the 
agent.    Action  without  regard  to  ends,  ultimate 
or  immediate,  is  everywhere  properly  regarded  as 
irrational;  and  action  which  does  not  have  expUc- 
itly  in  view  the  ultimate  happiness  of  all,  includ- 
ing the  actor,  can  only  be  regarded  as  moral  when, 
by  previous  analysis  and    comparison,  we    have 
been  enabled  to  subsume  all  moral  actions  under 
a  universal  law  which  has  been  proved  to  result  in 


138        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  security  of  universal  happiness,  and  we  are 
therefore  impelled  to  obey  the  law  without  regard 
to  its  special  or  ultimate  consequences.* 

To  no  such  profound  philosophical  view  of 
morals,  however,  had  the  prophet  of  Nazareth 
attained.  His  ethical  appeals  were  direct,  simple, 
personal,  devoted  to  the  production  of  immediate 
results.  Viewed  broadly,  except  as  they  were  af- 
fected by  the  erroneous  expectation  of  the  speedy 
coming  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  they  do  not 
suffer  or  lack  in  impressiveness,  as  tested  by  the 
rigid  rules  of  an  abstract  moral  philosophy.  The 
ethical  element  was  everywhere  dominant  in  the 
religion  of  Jesus.  His  "heavenly  Father"  was  a 
moral  ideal  personified, — a  conception  not  inferior, 
but  superior  to  that  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  and 
law-givers.  God  to  him  was  still,  and  ever  more 
supremely,  the  "Eternal,  not  ourselves,  that  makes 
for  righteousness."  The  test  of  morality  was  at 
once  and  inseparably  theocratic  and  utilitarian: 
the  two  ends  were  in  no  wise  differentiated  in  his 
thought.  To  do  right  was  alike  conceived  as  per- 
fect obedience  to  the  divine  will  and  as  the  means 
of  securing  happiness  among  men. 

The  Religioa  of  Jesus  as  related  to  Judaism. 

"What,  finally,  was  the  relation  of  the  religion  of 
Jesus  to  Judaism  and  its  system  of  morals  as 
enunciated  in   the   Thorah?     This   question  can 


*See  Spencer's  Dnta  of  Ethics,  Savage's  Morals  of  Evo- 
lution, Prof.  EverRtt'3  essay  oa  "The  New  Morality,"  etc. 
See  also  John  Stuart  Mill,  Autobiography.  Mr.  Mill  even 
lays  down  the  principle  that  the  greatest  happiness  cannot 
be  attained  when  it  is  consciously  made  an  end  and  object 
of  pursuit. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  139 

hardly  be  answered  more  satisfactorily  than  in  the 
language  of  one  of  the  most  lucid  and  rational 
critics  of  the  gospel  literature,  Ferdinand  Chris- 
tian Baur  *    "Jesus,"  he  says,  "declared  at  the 
outset  that  he  was  not  come  to  destroy  the  law 
and  the  prophets,  but  to  fulfil  them,  and  might 
thus  appear  to  have  taken  up  an  entirely  affirma- 
tive position  toward  the  Old  Testament.     It  might 
be  said  that  the  difference  between  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  and  the  law,  or  the  Old  Testament,  was 
not  one  of  quality,  but  of  quantity.    On  this  view, 
no  new  principle  is  advanced  in  his  teaching :  all 
that  is  done  is  to  widen  the  application  of  the 
moral  precepts  which  the  law  contained,  and  assert 
their  authority  over  the  whole  extent  of  the  moral 
sphere  to  which  they  are  capable  of  referring. 
That  is  given  back  to  the  law  which  should  never 
have  been  taken  away  from  it.     The  law  is  de- 
clared to  be  capable  of  expansion  in  its  meaning 
and  its  range  of  application,  and  this  is  said  to 

be  done. 

"This  interpretation  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
appeals  to  the  fact  that,  in  the  further  discussion 
of  the  subject,  individual  injunctions  of  the  law 
are  taken  up,  and  each  of  them  brought  back  to 
the  original  meaning  of  the  law  or  interpreted  in 
a  sense  which  satisfies  the  moral  consciousness. 
But,  though  there  is  no  enunciation  of  a  general 
principle  which  is  to  apply  to  all  cases  alike,  yet, 
when  we  consider  what  is  said  to  be  the  true  ful- 
filling of  the  law  in  each  separate  instance,  and 

•  The  Church  History  of  the  First  Three  Centuries,  by  Dr. 
Ferdinand  Christian  Baur,  late  Professor  of  Theology  in 
the  University  of  TUbingen. 


140        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

see  how  ia  each  instance  what  is  done  is  to  con- 
trast the  outward  with  the  inward,  to  disregard 
the  mere  act  as  such,  and  lay  stress  on  the  disposi- 
tion as  that  which  alone  confers  any  moral  value 
on  a  man's  acts,  we  cannot  but  recognize  in  this 
a  new  principle,  and  one  which  differs  essentially 
from  Mosaism.  What  the  law  contained,  it  is 
true,  but  only  implicitly,  is  now  said  to  be  of  most 
importance,  and  enunciated  as  the  principle  of  mo- 
rality. The  expansion  of  the  law  quantitatively 
amounts  to  a  qualitative  difference.  The  inner  is 
opposed  to  the  outer,  the  disposition  to  the  act,  the 
spirit  to  the  letter.  This  is  the  essential  root  prin- 
ciple of  [the  religion  of  Jesus] ;  *  and,  in  insisting 
that  the  absolute  moral  value  of  a  man  depends 
simply  and  solaly  on  his  disposition,  the  [religion 
of  Jesus]  was  essentially  original." 

Hifitorical  Verity-  of  the  ITIan  JTesas. 

And  now,  as  we  pass  on  to  a  consideration  of 
the  later  phases  of  the  development  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  and  doctrine,  let  us  bear  onward  with  us 
this  sublime  picture, — not  indeed  of  a  God  or  a 
supernatural  being,  but  of  a  man, — a  man  loving 
in  all  ways  to  identify  himself  with  his  fellow-men, 
even  the  poorest  and  lowliest  among  them.  More 
frequently  than  by  any  other  designation,  he  refers 
to  himself  as  "the  Son  of  Man,"  a  common  desig- 

*We  substitute  this  phrase  for  "Christianity,"  in  order 
to  obviate  the  confusion  which  might  arise  from  the  use  of 
a  term  which  ordinarily  implies  certain  doctrinal  beliefs 
not  found  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  term  was  not  applied  to  the  new  religion  during  the 
lifetime  of  its  founder. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  141 


nation  of  the  prophets,  and  at  the  time  of  Jesus 
probably  not  regarded  as  a  Messianic  title.     Urged 
by  an  irresistible  affection  for  his  fellow-men,  he 
gave  the  best  labors  of  his  life  for  their  moral 
inspiration,— for  their  salvation  from  sin  and  prep- 
aration for  the  life  of  ideal  perfection  in  the  heav- 
enly kingdom.      Viewing    his  character  in    this 
purely  natural  and  human  aspect,  we  need  not  and 
will  not  consent  to  the  uncritical   judgment  of 
those  destructive  writers  who  would  deny  to  the 
gospel    stories    all    historical  validity    or    regard 
Jesus  as  the  servile  imitator  of  the  founder  of 
another  and  widely  different  religion.    After  sep- 
arating from  them  the  legendary  and   mythical 
accretions  of  an  unscientific  and  credulous   age, 
does  there  not  yet  remain  to  us  the  "saving  rem- 
nant" of  the  New  Testament  narratives?    Look- 
ing upon  this  picture,  with   all  its    lights    and 
shadows  of  a  noble  yet  fallible  humanity,  may  we 
not  say  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,— 

"He  was  a,  man: 
Take  him  for  all  in  all,  ^^ 

We  shall  not  look  upon  his  Uke  again. 

Would  it  then  be  just  to  conclude,  with  Chris- 
tendom, that  the  career  of  Jesus  presents  phenom- 
ena wholly  unique  in  the  world's  history?  Such 
is,  perhaps,  the  natural  impulse  of  the  human 
mind,  after  contemplating  a  life  of  heroic  self-abne- 
gation and  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  human  kind. 
With  a  like  thought,  we  have  doubtless  risen  from 
the  perusal  of  the  noble  tribute  to  the  founder  of 
another  of  the  world's  great  religions  in  Edwin 


142         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Arnold's  Light  of  Asia.*  We  are  touched  in  a 
similar  manner  by  the  contemplation  of  the 
noblest  characters  of  fiction, — the  Jean  Valjeans 
and  the  Romolas,  ideal  exemplars  of  this  religion 
of  lofty  self-sacrifice.  But  sober  second  thought 
should  lead  us  to  question  whether  we  ought  not 
rather  to  bear  in  mind  the  human  limitations  of 
even  the  noblest  of  those  who  have  lived  and  died 
for  man,  lest  we  fall  into  a  species  of  idolatry  and 
hero-worship  inconsistent  with  the  mandates  of 
rational  religion.  At  least  let  us  not  exalt  one 
unduly  by  the  disparagement  of  all  others.  The 
orthodox  doctrine  of  "total  depravity,"  the  dark 
background  against  which  the  ideal  picture  of  the 
supernatural  Christ  is  limned,  has  no  place  in  the 
healthy  creed  of  rational  religion. 

Old  Father  Taylor,  of  Boston,  the  seamen's 
missionary,  whose  abundant  humanity  outweighed 
the  depressing  implications  of  his  creed,  when  he 
was  asked,  "Do  you  think  there  ever  was  as  good 
a  man  as  Jesus?"  instantly  replied,  "Yes,  millions 
of  them  1"  Have  not  you  and  I  also  known  hearts 
as  true  and  souls  as  full  of  manly  courage  ? 

Let  us  not  deny  Jesus  his  proper  place  in  the 
world's  history,  nor  place  him  so  far  above  the 
level  of  our  common  manhood  that  he  shall  fail  to 

♦We  cannot  protest  too  strongly  against  the  systematic 
depreciation  and  condemnation  of  botli  Jesus  and  the 
Buddiiain  such  works  as  Dr.  Oswald's  Secret  o/ f/ie  East, 
of  which  more  hereafter.  Making  all  due  allowances  for 
theological  errors,  due  largely,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  case 
of  Jesus,  to  the  failure  to  give  due  weight  to  a  single  mis- 
taken belief,  the  noble  personality  and  fine  moral  insight 
of  those  two  great  teachers  are  influences  for  good  that 
the  world  will  not  willingly  let  die,  or  consent  to  see  mis- 
represented or  undervalued. 


SOCIAL   ASPECTS  1^3 

be  to  us  always  a  rational  example  and  inspiration 
to  all  noble  things.  Let  him  live  in  our  hearts 
and  minds  a  heroic,  manly  character,  "not  too 
saintly  to  be  human."     Is  this  indeed  so  difficult? 

"Long  fed  on  boundless  hopes,  O  race  of  man, 

How  angrily  thou  spurn' st  aU  simpler  fare  1 

•Christ,'  some  one  says,  'was  human,  as  we  are. 

No  judge  eyes  us  from  heaven  our  sin  to  scan. 

"We  live  no  more  when  we  have  done  our  span !' 

•Well,  then,  for  Christ,'  thou  answerest,  'who  can  care? 

From  sin  which  heaven  records  not,  why  forbear? 

Live  we  like  brutes,  our  life  without  a  plan !' 

So  answerest  thou.    But  why  not  rather  say, 

•Hath  man  no  second  life  ?    Pitch  this  one  high  I 

Sits  there  no  judge  in  heaven  our  sin  to  see? 

More  strictly  then  the  inward  judge  obey. 

"Was  Christ  a  man  like  us  ?    Ah  I  let  us  try 

If  we  then,  too,  can  be  sucli  men  as  hel' " 


VL 

MYTH  AND   MIRACLE    IN    THE    GOSPEL 
STORIES. 

The  earliest  phase  in  the  development  of  the 
Christian  faith  is  that  presented  in  the  life  and 
teachings  of  the  Nazarene  Prophet ;  that,  in  short, 
which  we  have  attempted  to  deduce  in  the  two 
preceding  lectures  from  the  record  of  the  Triple 
Tradition  of  the  Synoptical  Gospels.  The  four 
Gospels  also  contain  the  record  of  a  later  phase  in 
the  growth  of  the  new  religion, — that  embodied 
in  the  mythical  and  miraculous  accretion  which 
gathered  at  a  very  early  day  around  the  striking 
personality  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth.  Though  the 
modern  scientific  spirit,  which  recognizes  the 
enduring  supremacy  of  law  throughout  the  opera- 
tions of  nature,  including  the  various  mutations 
of  human  affairs,  would  perhaps  justify  us  in 
relegating  the  miraculous  elements  in  the  gospel 
stories  to  the  realm  of  the  imaginary  and  unreal 
on  a  priori  grounds,  in  view  of  the  importance 
which  these  elements  have  ever  maintained  in  the 
popular  apprehension,  we  cannot  refrain  from  a 
further  careful  consideration  of  their  true  histori- 
cal meaning  and  the  probable  sources  of  their 
origin. 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  145 

Demoniacal  Possession  and  the  miracnlons  Cure 
of  Disease. 

We  have  already  suggested  that  there  may  be  a 
certain  historical  foundation  for  the  alleged  phe- 
nomena of  demoniacal  possession  and  exorcism, 
interpreted  as  the  relief  of  nervous  diseases,  such 
as  epilepsy  or  hysteria ;  and  a  like  germ  of  actual 
fact  may  lie  at  the  basis  of  other  stories  of  mirac- 
ulous cure  found  in  the  synoptical  tradition.  The 
influence  of  a  powerful  mind  and  will  over  im- 
pressionable natures  is  so  frequently  illustrated  in 
the  affairs  of  our  every-day  life  that  it  requires  no 
supernatural  hypothesis  for  its  explanation.  A 
trusted  physician  or  nurse  often  exercises  a  more 
potent  influence  over  an  invalid  than  that  derived 
from  medicine  or  the  more  obvious  hygienic  appli- 
ances. Belief  in  the  curative  efficacy  of  religious 
rites  and  priestly  manipulations  is  common  among 
all  ignorant  peoples,  resting,  doubtless,  on  similar, 
wholly  natural,  and  non-miraculous  facts,  exagger- 
ated by  the  imagination.  We  have  only  to  sup- 
pose a  like  exaggeration,  such  as  universally  occurs 
in  the  oral  transmission  even  of  the  reports  of 
ordinary  every-day  occurrences,  to  account  for  the 
greater  number  of  the  alleged  miraculous  events 
recorded  in  the  Synoptical  Gospels.* 

Tiie  Birth  Stories  of  the  Synoptical  Gospels. 

A  critical  examination  of  the  records  of  other 
reported  phenomena  of  an  extraordinary  character 

•  A  recent  interesting  study  of  the  alleged  miracles  of  the 
present  and  past  generations  may  be  consulted  in  The 
JXct-kmary  of  Miracles,  Instructive,  Realistic,  and  Dog- 
matic, by  L.  Cobham  Brewer,  LL.D. 


146        A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

discloses  so  many  discrepancies  of  statement  that, 
apart  from  any  general  scientific  hypothesis  of  the 
incredibility  of  miracles,  and  from  the  fact  tha^ 
the  witnesses  to  the  events  are  all  anonymous  and 
testify  at  second  hand,  we  are  justified  in  rejecting 
them  by  the  recognized  rules  of  testimony  con- 
cerning ordinary  statements  of  fact.  We  have 
already  pointed  out  some  of  these  discrepancies  in 
the  stories  of  the  miraculous  birth  of  Jesus.  Apart 
from  the  fundamental  disagreements  in  the  narra- 
tives of  Matthew  and  Luke,  it  is  wholly  incredible 
that  Mark,  the  earliest  writer,  and  John,  the  latest 
biographer  of  Jesus,  should  omit  all  reference  to 
this  alleged  and  most  wonderful  occurrence,  if  it 
bad  the  least  foundation  in  fact. 

The  natural  genesis  and  growth  of  these  legends 
among  an  uncritical  and  unscientific  people  like 
the  early  Christian  converts  are  easily  accounted 
for.  Bishop  Lightfoot  says  of  the  Jews  of  this 
period :  "They  were  given  over  beyond  measure  to 
beliefs  in  all  sorts  of  delusions,  exorcisms,  amulets, 
charms,  and  dreams.  They  were  ready  to  believe 
everything  strange,  wild,  aud  unnatural."  Renan 
declares  that  "miracles  were  considered  at  that 
time  the  indispensable  mark  of  the  Divine  and  the 
sign  of  the  prophetic  calling."*  Nor  was  this 
tendency  an  exclusive  characteristic  of  the  Jews. 
The  masses  of  the  people,  and  even  many  of  the 


*Life  of  Jesus,  p.  230.  There  are  some  indications  that 
Jesus  was  himself  less  credulous  than  the  masses  of  his 
people,  and  that  ho  did  not  regard  miracles  as  necessary 
credentials  to  his  oflBce  as  a  teacher  of  morals  and  religion. 
Thus,  he  rebuked  the  Pharisees  for  "seeklna:  after  a  sign," 
declaring,  according:  to  the  oldest  Gospel,  "There  shall  no 
sign  be  given  unto  this  generation"  (Mark  viii.,  11, 12). 


MYTH  AND   MIRACLE  147 

educated  classes  throughout  the  Roman  Empire, 
were  addicted  to  like  beliefs.     The  birth  stories  of 
the  Gospels,  indeed,  were  evidently  not  of  Jewish, 
but  of  Aryan  origin.    The  earliest  Jewish  converts, 
as  we  have  seen,  and  their  successors,  the  Ebion- 
ites,  rejected  the  story  of  the  miraculous  birth  and 
the  alleged  virginity  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,— a 
fact  which  was  accounted  to  them  as  heresy  by 
the    already  growing    Orthodoxy  of  the   earliest 
Christian   centuries.      The    birth  stories    of    the 
Gospels  have  much  in  common  with  the  similar 
legends    related    of    Krishna,     Buddha,    Apollo, 
Horos,  and  other  Pagan  deities.     Through  all  of 
them    run    the    easily  discernible  features   of    a 
primitive  solar  mythology,  to  which  they  are  refer- 
able for  their  true  explanation.     The  religion  of 
Jesus  at  once  came  into  contact  and  competition 
with  the  current    faiths   of    Paganism,   and  the 
non-Jewish    or    Hellenized    Christian    apologists 
could  by  no  means  fail  to  ascribe  to  Jesus  the 
possession  of  powers  as  wonderful  and  of  an  origin 
as  divine  as  those  claimed  for  the  older  demi-gods 
of  the  Aryan  mythology.*    How  completely  these 
stories  were  ignored  by  the  earliest  Jewish  Chris- 
tians, however,  appears  in  the  total   absence  of 
reference  to  them  in  the  Gospels,  outside  the  early 
chapters  of  Matthew  and  Luke,  in  which  they  are 
related. 

The  Similar  liCgend  o£  Apollonias  o£  Tyana. 

Perhaps  the  growth  of  the  Christian  legend  can 

be  better  understood  and  illustrated  by  reference 

•The  apolication  of  the  title  "Son  of  God"  to  Jesus,  by  a 
not  unnatural  misapprehension  of  the  non-Jewish  con- 
verts to  Christianity,  doabtless  served  to  suggest  and  en- 
courage the  belief  in  the  divine  incarnation. 


148        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

to  the  history  of  another  remarkable  man  whose 
life  was  contemporary  with  the  earliest  Christian 
century,  and  whose  story,  upon  its  mythical  and 
legendary  side,  bears  striking  and  noteworthy 
resemblances  to  that  of  the  founder  of  Christianity 
as  preserved  to  us  in  the  gjspel  traditions.  Apol- 
lonius  of  Tyana  was  undoubtedly  an  historical 
personage.  His  leading  biographer,  Philostratus, 
whose  work  has  descended  to  our  time,  was  a 
Greek  writer  of  repute  who  lived  in  the  second 
and  third  centuries  of  the  Christian  era.  Before 
Philostratus  wrote,  however,  several  biographies  of 
Apollonius  had  already  been  composed,  the  first 
during  his  lifetime  by  one  Damis,  his  friend  and 
disciple,  and  others  later  by  Maximus,  of  ^gse,  and 
Maeragenes.  Ritter  says  of  the  work  of  Damis, 
which  constituted  the  main  reliance  of  Philostratus 
in  the  composition  of  his  more  elaborate  biogra- 
phy, that  it  was  "probably  free  from  all  intentional 
dishonesty."*  The  memoirs  of  Apollonius  by 
Maeragenes  are  referred  to  by  Origen  in  his  reply 
to  Celsus,  and  the  leading  facts  in  his  career  were 
well  known  before  the  time  of  Philostratus. 

The    Oemeral   Reliability  of  the  liife  of    Apollo- 
nius by  PhiSostratna. 

The  biography  by  Philostratus  was  undertaken 
at  the  urgent  request  of  Julia  Domna,  the  wife  of 
the  Emperor  Septimius  Severus,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  third  century  of  the  Christian  era,  rather 
more  than  a  hundred  years   after  the  death   of 

*  The  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  481.    By 
Dr.  Heinricli  Kilter. 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  149 

Apollonius.  Baur*  regards  this  work  as  a  "ten- 
dency writing,"  the  object  of  which  was  to  har- 
monize the  doctrines  of  the  Pythagorean  philoso- 
phy with  the  prevailing  Platonism  of  the  extant 
systems  of  Paganism.  He  conceives  that  Philo- 
stratus  intentionally  attributed  to  Apollonius 
wonderful  works  of  a  like  character  to  those 
ascribed  to  Jesus  by  the  Christians,  and  thus 
inferentially  throws  doubt  upon  the  historical 
value  of  his  biography.  The  general  tenor  of  the 
work,  however,  is  unquestionably  personal  and 
biographical  rather  than  philosophical.  Its  de- 
fence of  the  Pythagorean  philosophy  is  fragmen- 
tary, incomplete,  and  wholly  incidental  to  its  main 
object.  Its  leading  facts  and  features  are  explicitly 
asserted  to  have  been  derived  from  the  older 
memoranda  of  Damis,  against  which  no  such 
suspicion  has  ever  obtained.  They  were  accepted 
as  in  the  main  trustworthy  by  eminent  contro- 
versialists of  the  time,  and  are  confirmed  in 
many  particulars  by  internal  evidence  and  by  such 
allusions  to  Apollonius  as  we  find  in  earlier  and 
contemporary  writers,  and  may  be  regarded  as 
generally  authentic,  with  the  same  allowance  for 
exaggeration  and  interpolation  in  the  mythical 
and  miraculous  portions  of  the  narrative  which  we 
make  in  our  estimation  of  the  Christian  Gospels. 
Ritter,  whose  treatment  of  this  subject  is  candid 
and  rational,  does  not  agree  with  Baur  that  Philo- 
stratus  had  Christ  in  mind  in  composing  his 
biography  of   Apollonius,  and   affirms   that   those 

•  Christ  and  Apollonius.  Also  History  of  the  Church  in 
the  First  Three  Christian  Centuries,  by  Ferdinand  Chris- 
tian Baur. 


150         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

who  take  this  view  "appear  to  have  looked  but 
little  into  the  general  character  of  Pbilostratus  as 
an  author."*  This  conception  of  Baur  may 
properly  be  discarded  as  resting  upon  no  visible 
evidence,  either  internal  or  external  to  the  work 
itself. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  all  these  writings  relating 
to  Apollonius  were  composed  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, which  was  the  native  tongue  of  their 
subject.  Their  authorship  is  unquestioned;  anc 
the  memoranda  of  Damis,  the  chief  source  of  theii 
information,  were  written  during  the  lifetime  of 
Apollonius.  In  all  these  respects,  the  biography 
by  Philostratus,  which  is  the  only  one  possessed  by 
us,  presents  testimonials  to  its  validity  superior  to 
the  Christian  Gospels,  the  authorship  of  which  is 
anonymous  or  pseudonymous,  which  were  written 
in  a  language  that  Jesus  did  not  write  or  speak, 
and  in  the  composition  of  which  we  have  no 
assured  evidence  that  their  writers  possessed  any 
memoranda  prepared  during  the  lifetime  of  their 
subject. 

The  liife  and  Ijabera  «f  Apollenius. 

Apollonius  was  born  in  Tyana,  the  capital  city 
of  Cappadocia  in  Asia  Minor,  shortly  after  the 
birth  of  Jesus.t  He  obtained  his  earlier  educa- 
tion at  Tarsus  under  one  Euthydemus,  a  well-known 

•History  of  Ancient  Philosophy,  Vol.  IV.  So  likewise 
the  autlior  of  -ApoUouius  Tyauajus"  in  tlie  Encyclopaedia 

^?Mn°mniel  M.  Tredwell,  of  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  (Mem.  Am. 
Eth.  Soc).  an  enthusiastic  student  of  the  Apollonian  liter- 
ature, fixes  the  time  of  his  birth  in  the  precise  year  from 
which  our  era  is  erroneously  dated.  Of  the  exact  date, 
however,  there  appears  to  be  considerable  uncertainty. 


MYTH   AKD   MIRACLE 


151 


instructor,   and  afterward  withdrew  to    iEgse,   a 
small  village  containing  a  temple  dedicated  to  the 
god  ^sculapius,  where  he  spent   some  years  in 
study  and  meditation  upon  the  problems  of  relig- 
ion, philosophy,  and  practical  ethics.     He  there 
met  Euxenus,  a  disciple  of  Pythagoras,  by  whom 
he    was    instructed    in    the    philosophy    of    that 
eminent  teacher.    While  very  young,  he  renounced 
the   foUies  and  superficial    pleasures   of    society, 
lived  abstemiously  upon  a  vegetarian  diet,  totally 
abjured  the  use  of  wine,  wore  no  covering  upon 
his  feet,  and  only  the  simplest  clothing.     He  re- 
frained from  cutting  his  hair,  as  did  the  Hebrew 
Nazarites  and  Hindu  ascetics,  and  slept  upon  the 

hard  ground. 

After  spending  some  five  years  in  ascetic  con- 
templation and  study,  he  travelled  for  a  long  time 
through  the  Eastern  countries,— Assyria,  Persia, 
Babylonia,  India,  and  Egypt,-studying  their  dif- 
ferent religions  and  social  customs.    During  his 
travels,  and  subsequently,  he  is  said  to  have  per- 
formed many  marvellous  works ;  though  his  biog- 
rapher, in  a  tone  strikingly  similar  to  that  of  the 
modem  Theosophists  and  advocates  of  "Esoteric 
Buddhism,"    everywhere    disclaims    the    implica- 
tion of    miracle  or  violation  of   law  apparently 
involved  in  the  stories.*     Apollonius  is  said  to 

•Pvthasoras  was  also  reputed  to  be  a  thaumaturKl'^t  or 
wo^r  of  miracles,  and  the  healers  of  disease  iQ  general 
wprelccredited  by  the  popular  superstition  as  the  pos- 
Tessors  of  remarkable  and'^  supernatural  Powers.  These 
claims  should  not  be  regarded  as  the  result  of  deliberate 
fS  or  dishonesty,  but  rather  as  a  recegnized  feature  in 
thArn?rent  methods  of  medical  treatment,  involving  an 
element  of  i^ste^  and  concealment  which  the  profession 
bas  not  yet  wholly  outgrown. 


152        A    STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

have  possessed  the  faculty  of  clairvoyance,  or 
"second  sight,"  by  means  of  which  he  perceived 
and  described  the  murder  of  the  Emperor  Domi- 
tian,  when  many  miles  distant  from  the  place  of 
its  occurrence.  He  also  foretold  future  events 
upon  the  occasion  of  his  own  journeyings,  and  in 
the  more  important  affairs  of  Roman  history. 
He  is  said  to  have  appeared  to  his  friends  Damis 
and  Demetrius  bodily,  though  at  a  distance  from 
his  actual  abiding  place,  while  yet  alive ;  and  to 
have  appeared  to  the  Emperor  Aurelian  when  he 
was  about  to  destroy  Tyana,  and  to  a  young  un- 
believer who  ridiculed  his  doctrine  some  years 
after  his  death. 

Alleged  Instances  ef    Oemoiiiacal  Exorcism  and 
Cure  attributed  to  Apollonins. 

He  possessed  a  remarkable  power  over  the  wills 
and  actions  of  others;  something  akin,  appar- 
ently, to  the  phenomena  known  to  us  as  "animal 
magnetism."  At  one  time,  he  is  said  to  have 
quelled  a  turbulent  and  riotous  crowd  of  people 
by  simply  waving  his  hands  over  their  heads.  At 
Lesbos,  he  is  reported  to  have  cured  a  young  man 
possessed  of  devils;  and  many  other  instances  of 
demoniacal  exorcism  are  also  attributed  to  him. 
A  young  man  in  Athens,  through  whom  the  demon 
uttered  cries  of  fear  and  rage,  could  not  face  the 
look  of  Apollonius,— an  incident  reminding  us  of 
the  healing  of  the  demoniac  of  Gadara  b^  Jesus. 
In  another  instance,  a  statue  is  said  to  have  fallen, 
overturned  by  the  evil  spirit  as  he  departed  out  of 
the  afflicted  person, — recalling  the  entrance  of  the 


MYTH   AND  MIRACLE  153 

demons  into  the  swine  and  their  destruction  in  the 
sea,  in  the  Christian  legend. 

In  Asia  Minor,  Apollonius  is  said  to  have  cured 
many  people  of  the  plague  then  raging;  and,  in 
Rome,  it  was  reported  and  currently  believed  that 
he  restored  to  life  a  girl  of  noble  family  who  had 
been  dead  for  some  time.*    During  his  life,  he  was 
regarded  by  many  as  the  incarnation  of  the  god 
Jupiter.      He  was   mentioned  with   honor  by  his 
contemporary,  Lucan,t  the  author  of  "Pharsalia" ; 
and  another  contemporary,  in  contemplating  his 
career,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "We  have  a  god 
among    us!"      His   death    occurred   probably    at 
Ephesus,  when  he  was  about  a  hundred  years  old. 
It  was  believed  by  many  that  he  did  not  die,  but 
that  he  was  taken  up  bodily  into  heaven,  as  in  the 
stories  of  the   Hebrew  patriarch  Enoch  and  the 
prophet  Elijah.     A  popular  legend  subsequently 
assigned  the  place  of  his  translation  to  the  temple 
of  Diana  Dictynna  in  Crete,  upon  the  occurrence  of 
which  event  it  was  said  that  the  voices  of  young 
maidens  were  heard  singing,  '-Quit  the  earth,  O 
divine  Apollonius,  and  ascend  up  into  heaven." 

The  Deificatieii  »ad  Worship  of  Apoll«iiins. 

After  his  death,  he  received  divine  honors  at 
Tyana  and  throughout  Asia  Minor,  and  was  held 
in  universal  respect  by  the  Pagan  world  for  many 

♦Philostratus,  while  reporting  these  marvellous  occur- 
rences on  the  aiithoricy  ot  Damis,  does  not  regard  «iem  as 
evidences  of  supernatural  or  miraculous  power,  bat  ref  f  ra 
them  to  the  profound  knowledge  of  the  powers  of  nature 
which  Apollonius  had  acquired  through  investigation  and 
study. 

t  Marcus  Ann'Bus  Lucanus,  a  Roman  poet,  circum  29-66 
A.D. 


154        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

generations.     Hierocles,  the  governor  of  Bithynia, 
a  noted  Pagan  controversialist,  wrote  a  work  in 
opposition  to   Christianity,   the  main  feature  of 
which  consisted  in  an  ingenious  parallel  between 
Christ  and  ApoUonius.    His  object,  however,  waa 
not  to  claim  divine  honors   for  ApoUonius,  but  to 
combat  the  similar  claim  made  for  Jesus  by  Chris- 
tian apologists.      His  work*  was  rationalistic  in 
its  leading  features ;  and  he  declared  that  the  intel- 
ligent heathen  did  not  regard  ApoUonius  as  a  god, 
but  only  as  a  man  beloved  of  the  gods.f     The  phi- 
losopher Eunapius,    in    consideration  of    the  re- 
markable character  of  ApoUonius  as  described  by 
Philostratus,   proposed    to  entitle    his    biography 
'EmSjjfiia  eZj-  avdpuirov-  deov,  The  Advent  of  the  God' 
Man.    Even    Christian  apologists,   like   Sidonius 
ApoUinarisJ  and   Cassiodorus,§  have  nothing  to 
say  against  ApoUonius,  but,  on  the  contrary,  speak 
loudly  in  his  praise.  |j 

A  temple  was  erected  to  his  honor  at  Tyana,  his 
native  city;  and  his  statue  was  placed  therein 
among  those  of  the  gods.  Another  temple  was 
erected  to  him  subsequently  by  the  Emperor  Cara- 
caUa,  and  Alexander  Sever  us  enshrined  him  among 
his  household  deities.  For  four  centuries,  he  re- 
ceived divine  honors  throughout  Greece  and  Asia 


*A6yot  ^ilalydti-,  Words  of  the  Love  of  Truth,  or  True 
Discourse.  ^  „ 

t  Our  information  is  derived  from  the  essay  of  Eusebius, 
Contra  Hieroclem. 

tCireum  431-484  A.D..  some  time  Bishop  of  Clermont  in 
Auverp-ne,  and  author  of  historical  epistles,  poems,  etc. 

§  Lived  468-560  A.D.,  author  of  a  Universal  History  to 
A.D.  519,  and  other  works. 

II  See  ApoUonius  of  Tyana.  By  Albert  R6ville,  Doctor 
of  Theology,  Rotterdam. 


MYTH   AND    MIRACLE  155 

Minor,  and  hia  renown  extended  to  remote  coun- 
tries.* 
The  Religion  and  Ethical  Teaching  of  Apol- 
loniu8> 

The  religion  in.;ulcated  by   Apollonius  tacitly 
recognized  the  gods  of  the  Roman  pantheon,  but 
tended  strongly  toward    monotheism.     He  espe- 
cially recommended,  says  Ritter,  a  pure  worship  of 
the  Supreme   God  who  is  separate  and  alone,  to 
whom  should  be  offered  the   pure  prayer  of  the 
spirit,  which  requires  not  even  words  for  its  ex- 
pression.   He  forbade  all  animal   sacrifices,  and 
also  taught  that  no  sacrifices  of  any  sort  should  be 
offered  to  the  Supreme  God,  on  the  ground  that 
whatever  belongs   to  earth  is   impurity  to  God. 
Herein,  doubtless,  we  see  the  influence  of  those 
Eastern  philosophies  of  which  ApoUonius  was  a 
faithful  student. 

la  his  travels,  not  only  in  his  native  country, 
but  in  Egypt,  Assyria,  India,  and  Persia,  he  taught 
everywhere  a  higher  morality  than  that  inculcated 
by  the  current  religions,  and  endeavored  to  reform 
the  grosser  abuses  of  the  heathen  modes  of  wor- 
ship, thus  spending  his  life  in  the  effort  to  benefit 
and  elevate  mankind.  Soon  after  his  return  from 
his  long  sojourn  in  the  East,  he  applied  for  initia- 
tion in°to  the  sacred  mysteries  of  Eleusis;  but  his 

*Thfl  noat  and  controversialist  Lucian,  writing  about  150 
A  D^th^o  friend  of  Celsus.  whom  Froude  calls  "the  mo^t 

followers  of  Apollonius  as  he  did  that  of  the  Christians. 


156         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITV 

popular  repute  as  a  magician,  or  worker  of  mira- 
cles, caused  his  application  to  be  rejected.  Four 
years  later,  however,  when  his  character  and  the 
beneficence  of  his  labors  were  better  known,  he 
was  received  and  initiated.*  "ApoUonius,"  says 
a  writer  in  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  "is  not  to 
be  looked  upon  as  a  shallow  and  vulgar  impostor, 
though,  to  influence  men's  minds,  he  had  recourse 
to  artifices  and  pretensions  unworthy  of  a  true  phi- 
losopher. With  some  of  the  spirit  of  a  moral  and 
religious  reformer,  he  appears  to  have  attempted, 
though  vainly,  to  animate  an  expiring  Paganism 
with  a  new  and  purer  life."  f 

Remarkable  CJoineidences  of  the  Apollonian  and 
Chriistian  Traditions. 

We  have  sketched  the  salient  points  in  the 
career  of  Apollonius  thus  at  length,  in  order  both 
to  rescue  from  unmerited  oblivion  the  name  and 
story  of  one  who  in  his  day  was  well  counted 
among  the  benefactors  of  mankind,  and  also,  by 
comparison  with  the  Christian  legend,  to  illustrate 
the  growth  of  mythical  and  miraculous  accretions 
around  the  record  of  a  noble  human  life.  The 
relegation  of  these  elements  to  their  proper  region 
of  unreality  does  not  in  the  least  justify  us  in  ques- 
tioning the  historical  verity  of  the  personage  about 
whom  they  have  gi'own  into  being ;  nor  do  the 
striking  coincidences  of  the  Christian  and  the 
Apollonian  legends  detract  at  all,  as  some  have 
claimed,  from  the  probable  truth  of  the  story  of 

•"The  Eleusiniin  Mysteries,"  by  Fran9oi8  Lenormant, 
Contemporary  lievieu^'ttlay,  et  seq.,  1880. 
t  Ai  tide,  "Apollonius  Tyanasus,"  Encyclopaedia  Britan- 
nica, ninth  edition. 


MYTH   AND   MIBACLE  157 

the  man  Jesus  of  the  Triple  Tradition  of  the  Syn- 
optical Gospels.  The  contemplation  of  these  co- 
incidences, however,  and  of  the  leading  features 
in  the  Apollonian  tradition,  cannot  fail  to  throw 
valuable  light  upon  the  genesis  and  development 
of  the  Christian  mythus,  and  to  convince  us  that 
the  story  of  Jesus,  on  its  supernatural  side,  is  no 
single  or  unique  phenomenon  in  the  history  of  the 
world's  religions. 

The  significant    fact    of    the  contemporaneous 
growth  of°  these  two  legends,  each  centering  about 
an  undoubted  historical  personage,  will  go  far  to 
explain  the  similarity  of  the  mythical  and  miracu- 
lous elements  which  enter  into  the  popular  versions 
of  both.    Each  came  into  being  in  the  midst  of  a 
society  familiar  with  the  leading  features  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  mythologies,  with  which  were 
also  mingling  the  simUar  beliefs  of  Persia  and 
India.     The   acquaintance  of  Apollonius  and  his 
disciples  with  the  Eastern  mythologies  is  notewor- 
thy and  suggestive.     The  likeness  of  the  two  nar- 
ratives, however,  appears  in  just  this  subsequent 
accretion  of  myth  and  miracle,  and  in  nothing  else. 
The  personal  histories  of  Jesus  and  Apollonius— 
the  one  an  uncultivated  Galilean  peasant,  dying  an 
ignoble  death  upon  the  cross  at  the  age  of  about 
thirty-three  years,  in  an  obscure  corner  of  Asia; 
and  the  other  an  educated  pagan,  rounding  out  a 
full  century  in  the  light  of  the  highest  civilization 
then  known  to  the  world,  and  dying  in  favor, 
apparently,  with  God  and  man-are  totally  dissimi- 
lar.   The  one  was  a  Pythagorean  philosopher :  the 
other  taught  no  system  of  philosophy ;  and  that 


158        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

which  commingled  with  his  simple  moral  teaching 
in  after  times  was  not  the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras, 
but  that  of  Plato.  The  supposition  that  the 
Christian  story  was  borrowed  from  the  Apollonian 
is,  therefore,  as  unreasonable  as  the  contrary 
hypothesis  of  Baur ;  and  all  comparisons  between 
the  two  narratives  made  with  the  intent  to  throw 
doubt  upon  the  identity  of  Jesus  as  an  historical 
character,  or  to  undervalue  his  work  as  a  religious 
teacher,  are  futile  and  irrational. 

Moreover,  the  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  non- 
miraculous    character    of    the    marvellous    works 
reported  of  Apollonius,  through  the  frank  admis- 
sions and  explanations  of  Philostratus,  is  precisely 
similar  to  the  conclusion  to  which  we  are  com- 
pelled by  the  critical  investigation   of  the  gospel 
stories.    In  both  instances,  perhaps,  there  may  be 
some  foundation  for  the  alleged  phenomena  of 
exorcism  and  cure  in  the  potent  influence  of  mind 
over  mind.     We  discard  at  ouce,  however,  all  idea 
of  reality  in  connection  with  such  relations  as  that 
of  restoring  life  to  the  dead,  except  as  it  may 
have  been  based  upon  the  relief  of  some   such 
condition   as  trance,  and  assign   to   their  proper 
mythological  sources  the  origin  of  the  fables  about 
the  miraculous  birth  and    bodily  translation   of 
Apollonius.     The  appearance  in  both  the  Apollo- 
nian and  the  Christian  legends  of  certain  elements, 
apparently  of  Eastern  or  Hindu  origin,  and  the 
well-authenticated  account  of  the  travels  of  Apol- 
lonius in  India,  together  with    the    attempt    of 
certain  recent  writers  to  attribute  a  Buddhistic 
origin  to  the    entire    gospel    tradition,   make    it 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  159 

imperative  for  us  to  examine  further  the  grounds 
of  this  opinion. 

The  Alleged  Buddhistic   Origiu  of  tha  Christian 
Tradition. 

We  have  already  demonstrated  that  the  Man 
Jesus  of  the  Triple  Tradition  of  the  synoptics  was 
a  Hebrew,  and  a  Hebrew  only ;  moving  naturally  in 
the  Palestine  of  eighteen  centuries  ago,  speaking 
the  language  and  discussing  the  familiar  topics  of 
his  time  and  people.  His  admitted  pessimism  was 
native  to  the  soil  and  thought  of  Palestine,  and 
neither  in  its  expression  nor  in  its  vision  of  the 
future  did  it  present  any  of  the  characteristic 
features  of  Buddhism.  If  the  pessimism  of  Jesus 
differed  from  that  of  Job  and  the  author  of  Eccle- 
siastes,  it  was  rather  in  this :  that  it  qualified  its 
despair  of  the  existing  social  order  by  the  great  hope 
and  promise  of  a  new  and  diviner  order  soon  to  be 
established  on  the  earth,  in  the  joys  of  which  all 
the  righteous  would  consciously  participate.  To 
this  everywhere  present  and  dominant  doctrine  of 
the  Gospels,  Buddhism  presents  no  analogy. 

In  examining  the  ingenious  argument  of  Dr. 
Felix  Oswald  in  favor  of  the  Buddhistic  origin  of 
the  Christian  tradition,*  it  is  evident  at  a  glance 
that  his  analogies,  on  their  Christian  side,  are 
borrowed  chiefly  from  the  Fourth  Gospel,  and 
from  the  contradictory  birth  stories  of  the  First 
and  Third  Gospels,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  are 
excluded  from  the  material  upon  which  we  are 

*  The  Secret  of  the  East.  By  Dr.  Felix  Oswald.  Compare 
especially  the  "Concordance  of  Buddhism  and  Chris- 
tianity," pp.  12&-139  in  Appendix. 


160         A   STUDY    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

permitted  to  draw  for  a  rational  outline  of  the 
life  and  thought  of  Jesus.*  Other  alleged  analo- 
gies bearing  upon  the  mythical  or  historical  sides 
of  the  narrative  of  the  Synoptical  Gospels,  like  the 
stories  of  the  temptation,  the  transfiguration,  and 
the  choosing  of  the  disciples,t  bear  so  little  re- 
semblance in  detail  and  present  such  marked 
points  of  dissimilarity  that  the  candid  critic  can 
discover  therein  no  evidence  of  derivation  the  one 
from  the  other.  Of  the  alleged  "Dogmatical  Analo- 
gies," X  some  tested  by  a  true  critical  analysis  are 
found  neither  in  the  Synoptical  Gospels  nor  in  the 
authentic  teachings  of  Buddhism ;  §  and  others 
have  been  shown  to  grow  so  naturally  out  of  the 
Judaism  of  Palestine  that  no  hypothesis  of  foreign 
influence  is  required  to  account  for  their  natural 
genesis  and  development. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
some  notable  analogies  may  be  discovered  between 
the  Buddhist  mythus  and  the  birth  stories  of  the 
First  and  Third  Gospels,  and  the  possibility  that 
the  mythical  accretions  which  gathered  about  the 
historical  personalities  of  Prince  Siddartha  and 
Jesus  had  a  common  origin  may  also  be  admitted. 
That  the  origin  of  the  Christian  mythus  can  be 
traced  directly  to  Buddhism,  however,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  prove.    Tt  bears  the  easily  discernible 

»Cf.  paragraphs  1-14,  16,  19,  21,  24,  27,  pp.  128-136,  Seoret 
of  the  East. 

^Secret,  of  the  East,  paragraphs  15, 17,  20,  pp.  132, 133. 

t  Secret  of  fhe  East,  pp.  136, 137. 

§  Where,  for  instance,  can  we  discover  the  "belief  In  the 
necessity  of  redemption  by  a  supernatural  mediator,"  or 
in  the  eflcacy  of  vicarious  atonement,  in  the  authentic 
teachings  of  Buddhism,  in  anything  like  the  Christian 
sense  ? 


MTTH   AND   MIRACLE 


161 


impress  of  a  solar  mythology,  the  leading  features 
of  which  were  widely  distributed  throughout  Asia 
and  Europe  *    Upon  this  questioa,  probably,  there 
is  no  better  authority  than  Prof.  Max  Miiller,  who 
acknowledges  the  startling  coincidences  between 
Buddhism  and  Christianity  and  the  prior  origin 
of  the  former  faith.    In  reference  to  alleged  his- 
torical   channels    through   which    Buddhism   has 
influenced  Christianity,  however,  he  declares :  "I 
have  been  looking  for  such  channels  all  my  life, 
but  hitherto  I  have  found  none.   What  T  have  found 
is  that  for  some  of  the  most  startling  coincidences 
there  are  historical  antecedents  on  both  sides;  and, 
if  we  know  these  antecedents,  the  coincidences  be- 
come  far  less  startling."  t 

The  Growth  of    Miraculous  I^egends  iUastrated 
iu  the  Gospel  Stories. 

Investigating  further  the  miraculous  relations  of 
the  Gospels,  we  find  that  the  Triple  Tradition 
contains  no  record  of  the  restoration  of  the  dead 

•  This  is  likewise  true  of  the  mythical  elements  in  the 
ADoilonian  tradition,  the  tUtimate  origin  of  which,  lite 
Th^ose  in  the  gospel  stories,  may  be  traceable,  perhaps,  to 

^";*^^r\Te^tttra°dXssfd'tfa"JS^fere^^ 
held  at  Sk,n  College,  in  June.  1882   to  discuss  the  real  or 
onnarpnt  coincidences  between  Buddha  and  Christ.    ITot. 
AluneraVo  declared  such  a  discussion,  in  general  terms, 
Sst  an  impossibility,  saying  that  .'the  name  oB^^^ 
i^m  is  aoDlied  to  religious  opinions,  not  only  ot  tne  most 
v1?ying  Ct  of  a  decidedly  opposite  character,  held  by 
^prlifi  in  the  highest  and  lowest  stages  of  civilization, 
SivTdeVfnto'^enS  sect,,  nay,  f-^-<i«tJ''»Mmier-i''mos 
codes  of   canonical  wntings."     See  Mas  MuUers   most 
rpcent  work.  India:    What  it  can  teach  us,  pp.  lOfv .103' 

bars,  tSi"Bom,  I  s«ppos.,  there  are  co  mora  reUabl. 
authorities. 


162         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

to  life  by  Jesus,  the  only  occurrence  popularly 
interpreted  to  be  a  miracle  of  this  character  being 
the  cure  of  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  *  where  Jesus 
explicitly  declares  "the  damsel  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth."  The  rational  explanation  of  this  event 
may  doubtless  be  found  in  the  well-known  phe- 
nomenon of  trance.  In  Luke,  we  have  the  exag- 
gerated account  of  the  raising  of  the  widow's  son ;  f 
while  the  Fourth  Gospel,  with  great  detail,  relates 
the  still  more  marvellous  story  of  the  restoration 
of  Lazarus  to  life  after  he  had  been  dead  four 
days.J  It  is  absolutely  incredible  that  these  occur- 
rences, if  having  any  foundation  in  fact,  should  be 
unknown  to  the  writers  of  the  earlier  Gospels,  or, 
if  known,  that  they  should  not  be  reported.§  By 
the  investigation  of  these  similar  legends,  we  are 
led  to  the  consideration  of  the  principle  underly- 
ing the  growth  of  marvellous  relations. 

It  appears  to  be  a  universal  rule,  in  the  Bible  as 
elsewhere,  that  miraculous  legends  are  subject  to  a 
regular  law  of  growth, — a  rule  which,  if  recognized 
and  admitted,  at  once  and  completely  destroys 
their  alleged  character  as  actual  occurrences 
except  as  they  are  susceptible  of  an  entirely 
natural  explanation,  and  consequently  their  his- 
torical value  as  evidences  of  supernatural  power. 
Such  stories  become   uniformly  morp.  numerous  and 


*Mark  v.,  37-42 ;  Matt.  Ix.,  23-26;  Luke  vili,,  51-55. 

tLuke  vii.,  11-17.  t  John  xi.,  1-46. 

§  These  miracles  were  not  done  in  secret,  according  to  the 
record,  but  were  generally  known.  Of  the  raising  of  the 
widow's  son,  Luke  declares,  "This  rumor  of  him  went 
forth  throughout  all  Judea  and  throughout  all  the  region 
round  about"  (Luke  vii.,  17);  while,  according  to  the 
author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  "many  of  the  Jews"  were 
aware  of  the  raising  of  Lazarus  (John  xi.,  19,  46, 47-54). 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  163 


more  marvellous  as  time  separates  the  historical  events 
about  which  they  cluster  farther  and  farther  from  the 
period  of  their  relation.    This  is  true,  even  of  eras 
when  a  belief  in  the  possibility  of    miraculous 
occurrences  is  common.     In  the  writings  of  the 
eighth  century  prophets  *  who  spoke  of  their  own 
personal  times  and  experiences,  there  is  hardly  a 
trace  of  the  miraculous ;  while  the  Books  of  Sam- 
uel, Kings,  and  Chronicles,  written  long  after  the 
events  which  they  describe,  contain  many  marvel- 
lous relations.     The  first  of  the  apocryphal  books 
of  the  Maccabees  is  a  plain  historical  narrative 
almost  entirely  free  from  miracle ;  while  the  later 
books,  five  in  all,t  exhibit  a  steady  and  constant 
development  of  the  miraculous  as  the  time  of  their 
composition  recedes  from  the  period  described. 

The  Epistles  of  Paul,  the  earliest  writings  of 
the  New  Testament,  report  none  of  the  miracles 
of  Jesus,  though  Paul  himself  was  a  believer  in 
"signs  and  wonders.''^     Mark,  the  oldest  gospel, 
contains  fewer  miracles  than  either  of  the  other 
synoptics;   Luke  contains  more  marvellous  rela- 
tions  than  Matthew;    while  the  Fourth   Gospel, 
though  its  miracles  are  less  numerous  and  more 
obviously  selected  to  serve  the  special  purpose  of 
its  writer,  exhibits    a  vast   exaggeration  in  the 
direction    of    thaumaturgical    effect.      The  birth 
stories  of  the  synoptics,  absent  wholly  from  Mark, 
the  earliest  gospel,  found  in  their  simplest  form  in 
Matthew,  amplified  in  Luke  by  the  account  of  the 

»  \mn9  TTnspa  Isaiah  I.,  Zechariah  It.,  Micah. 
t  O^^t^v^  are  inctided  in  the  Old  Testament  Apocrypha 
as  ordinarily  published. 
XI,  Cor.  xii.,  »-10 ;  xiv. ;  xt. 


164         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

annunciation  to  the  mother  of  John  the  Baptist 
and  the  story  of  his  birth  and  relationship  to  Jesus, 
are  still  more  exaggerated  in  the  later  apocry- 
phal Gospels,  where  we  find  not  only  the  basis  of 
the  Catholic  dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion of  the  Virgin  Mary,  but  also  many  marvel- 
lous stories  of  the  childhood  of  Jesus,  illustrated 
by  miracles  introduced  for  a  purely  thaumaturgical 
effect,  such  as  making  mud  birds  and  causing 
them  to  fly,  and  changing  a  child  into  a  kid.  The 
story  of  the  calling  of  the  earlier  disciples  in  the 
Synoptical  Gospels,  related  simply  and  naturally  in 
Mark  and  Matthew,  is  expanded  and  embellished 
in  Luke  by  the  wonderful  narrative  of  the  mirac- 
ulous draft  of  fishes. 

JTIiracnIous  Liegends  of  a  mythological  or  Alle- 
gorical Character. 

The  gospel  stories  of  walking  on  the  water  and 
stilling  the  tempest,  if  not  legends  of  a  purely 
mythological  character,  may  have  grown  out  of 
certain  parables  or  allegorical  sayings  of  Jesus, 
intended  to  illustrate  the  truth  that  man  can 
overcome  the  extremest  obstacles  and  difficulties 
as  long  as  he  is  sustained  by  the  courage  which 
constant  faith  bestows,  but,  with  the  commence- 
ment of  fear  or  distrust,  his  failure  becomes  cer- 
tain. Goethe  assigns  to  these  stories  a  place  of 
high  honor  among  legends  which  excel  in  beauty 
and  depth  of  meaning.*  The  story  of  the  miracu- 
lous feeding  of  the  multitude  may  also  be  of  a 
parabolic  or  allegorical  character,  growing  out  of 

*  See  Jiibls  for  Learners,  Vol.  Ill     By  Dr.  I.  Hookyaas. 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  16o 

such  sayings  as  the  beatitude,  "Blessed  are  they 
who  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for  they 
shaU  be  filled."  U  so,  these  legends  are  to  be 
interpreted,  not  as  the  relation  of  actual  and 
material  occurrences,  but  as  parables,  illustrating 
an  obvious  interior  and  spiritual  truth.  These 
stories,  however,  bear  some  of  the  characteristic 
signs  of  the  solar  mythus,-signs  which  become 
still  more  evident  in  the  reported  miracles  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel. 

Remarkable  Character  of  the  Fourth  Oospel 
Miraclea. 

A  further  investigation  of  this  remarkable  Chris- 
tian epic  in  this  connection  cannot  fail  to  confirm 
our  previous  conclusion  in  regard  to  its  artificial 
and  unhistorical  character.     In  the  mythologies 
connected  with  other  religions,  careful  students 
have  recognized  a  notable  recurrence  of  similar 
circumstances  or  events  in  the  stories  of  the  va- 
rious incarnations  of  the  solar  deity.    Thus,  m  the 
Greek  and  Roman  systems,  we  have  reported  the 
twelve  labors  of  Herakles.     In  the  great  Babylo- 
nian epic,  we  have  related  on  twelve  distinct  tab- 
lets  as  many  wonderful  adventures  of   the  hero 
Izdubar,  whose  father    was    Shamas,    the    sun. 
Among  the  early  Hebrew  legends,  we  have  sim- 
ilarly  reported  the  twelve  mighty  deeds  of  Samson 
whose  name  also  signifies  the  sun,  or  one  bom  of 
the  sun.f     These  stories  were   all  originally  in- 

*  The  Chaldean  Account  of  Genesis.    By  George  Smith, 
'*"t^ee  Hebrew  Poetry.    By  Michael  Heilprin. 


166         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITr 

tended  to  symbolize  the  passage  of  the  sun  through 
the  twelve  astronomical  signs  of  the  zodiac ;  though 
in  after  times,  and  to  the  popular  apprehension, 
their  natural  origin  was  forgotten,  and  they  came 
to  be  regarded  as  narrations  of  historical  facts. 

It  ia  a  striking  fact,  and  one  which  has  appar- 
ently escaped  the  observation  of  scholars,  that  we 
have  certain  similar  features  presented  to  us  in  the 
great  Christian  epic  of  the  Incarnate  Logos, — the 
Fourth  Gospel.  The  number  of  the  miracles  in 
the  Fourth  Gospel  is  commonly  stated  to  be  only 
seven ;  but,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  we  have  here 
not  merely  the  biography  of  the  man  Jesus  dur- 
ing the  short  period  of  his  life  and  labors  in  Pales- 
tine, but  the  story  of  the  eternally  existing  Logos, 
the  number  of  his  wonderful  works,  as  herein 
related,  becomes  precisely  twelve,  no  more  and  no 
less.  These  are :  1.  The  creation  of  the  world. 
"The  world  was  made  by  him,  and  without  him 
was  not  anything  made  that  was  made."  *  2.  The 
Incarnation.  "The  Word  was  made  flesh,  and 
dwelt  among  us ;  and  we  beheld  his  glory,  the  glory 
as  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  full  of  grace 
and  truth."  f  3.  The  turning  of  water  into  wine.f 
4.  The  manifestation  of  clairvoyance,  or  "second 
sight,"  in  his  interview  with  the  woman  of  Sama- 
ria.§  5.  The  cure  of  the  nobleman's  son,  who  was 
sick  of  a  fever.  ||  6.  The  cure  of  the  impotent 
man.1[  7.  The  miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes.** 
8.  Jesus  walks  upon  the  water  at  the  Sea  of  Gal- 
ilee.ft    9-  He  cures  a  blind  man  at  the  pool  of 


•John  i.,  3.  tJohni.,  14.  t  John  il.,  *-ll. 

§Johniv.,7-19.  ||John  iv.,  46-54.         H  John  v.,  2-9. 

*»  John  vi.,  5-14.        tt  John  vi.,  16-21. 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  1^7 

SUoam  *  10.  He  raises  Lazarus  from  the  dead.f 
11.  Jesus  himself  rises  from  the  tomb  after  the 
crucifixion.t  12.  He  appears  to  the  disciples 
after  the  resurrection.  § 

The  Fourth  Qoapel  Ifliracles  interpreted  on  the 
Solar  SEypothesis. 

It  is  likewise  evident  that  all  of  these  alleged 
miracles-no  two   of  which  are  precisely  similar 
in  character— have  an  obvious  meaning  as  inter- 
preted by  the  solar  theory.     The  creation  legend 
of  the  Old  Testament  has  long  been  recognized  by 
scholars  as  a  myth  of  the  dawn,  when  the  rising 
sun,  moving  on  the  face  of  the  waters,  reveals  first 
the  earth,  then  the  planets,  then  the  various  ani- 
mals, and,  last  of  all,  man,  as  he  comes  forth  to 
pursue  his  daily  labors.||     So,  too,  in  the  Logos 
epic,  the  creation  of  the  world  may  obviously  be 
regarded  as  the  work  of  the  solar  deity,  not  yet 
incarnate.    The  incarnation  itself  is  a  miracle  so 
universally  attributed  to  the  sun-god  that  it  is  nec- 
essary only  to  recaU  the  fact  to  establish  the  a 
priori   probability    of    its    solar    character.     The 
transformation  of  water  into  wine  is  but  a  poet- 
ical figure  for   the  ever-recurring  wonder  which 
the  sun  is  working  in  nature.     The  phenomenon 
of  clairvoyance,  of  a  vision  penetrating  into  all 
secrets  and  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,  is 
attributed  by  the  mythologies  of  many  nations  to 
the  "all-seeing  eye"  of  the  sun.*[[  

•  John  ix.,  1-7.  t-l^^"^'-'^;!!:^,!   OR 

t  John  xx!,  11-18.  §Johnxx.,14-xH.,25. 

\iSee  Bible  for  LearnerSyYol.  I.  -♦♦rihnt^rt  to 

t  Like  phenomena,  a3  we  have  seen,  are  attributed  to 
Apolloniufl  of  Tyana. 


168        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

The  miracles  of  cure  are  simply  poetical  state- 
ments of  the  universally  recognized  fact  of  the 
healthful  and  life-giving  energies  of  the  solar  rays. 
Especially  is  this  interpretation  significant  in  the 
alleged  restoration  of  sight  to  the  blind.  It  is  a 
beautiful  symbol  of  the  sun's  beneficent  influence 
accompanying  the  dawn  of  every  day  and  the  dis- 
sipation of  the  darkness  of  night.  The  sun  also 
gives  power  to  the  impotent ;  and,  as  he  marks  the 
passing  of  the  years,  he  allays  the  hot  fever  of 
youth.  So,  too,  the  sun  brings  food  to  all  the 
children  of  man.  He  multiplies  abundantly  the 
"loaves  and  fishes"  for  the  multitudes  of  to-day 
as  well  as  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  by  his 
wonderful  fertilizing  power. 

At  the  dawn  of   every  new  day,  the  sun-god 

comes  to  his  wondering  worshippers,  walking  over 

the  sea, — his  touch  so  miraculously  light  that  no 

tiniest  wavelet  bows  its  crest  beneath  his  tread. 

The  resurrection  myth,  too,  was  a  characteristic 

feature  of  the  solar  cultus  in  Babylonia,  in  Egypt, 

in  the  sacred  mysteries  of  Mithras  and  Eleusis  as 

well  as  in  the  Christian  gospel.     And,  last  of  all, 

on  every  morning  appears  to  his  disciples,  after  the 

resurrection, 

"The  dead  earth's  divine  Redeemer, 
Giver  of  the  Light  and  Law." 

When  we  further  recall  such  expressions  as,  "In 
him  was  life,  and  the  life  was  the  light  of  men. 
And  the  light  shineth  in  the  darkness,  and  the 
darkness  comprehendeth  it  not";  "That  was  the 
true  light,  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh 
into    the    world";    "Every  one    that    doeth  evii 


MYTH    AND    MIRACLE  169 

hatetb  the  light,  neither  cometh  to  the  light  lest 
his  deeds  should  be  reproved";  "For  I  am  come 
down  from  heaven  ...  to  do  the  will  of  him 
that  sent  me";  "I  am  the  light  of  the  world"; 
"Yet  a  little  while  is  the  light  with  you.  Walk 
while  ye  have  the  light,  lest  darkness  come  upon 
you";  "While  ye  have  the  light,  believe  in  the 
light,  that  ye  may  be  the  children  of  light," — our 
conviction  of  the  origin  of  these  figures  and  illus- 
trative miracles  in  the  solar  mythology  is  strongly 
confirmed. 

We  should  greatly  err,  however,  if  we  shoiild 
therefore  relegate  the  entire  gospel  to  this  physi- 
cal and  mythological  region  for  its  explanation,  as 
certain  riders  of  the  solar  hobby  have  attempted 
to  do.*  This  was  but  the  body,  the  garment  for 
an  inner  soul  of  philosophical  and  dogmatic  in- 
struction, drawn  mainly  from  the  Neo-Platonism 
of  Philo  and  the  Alexandrian  schools.  About  the 
person  and  the  vague  traditional  history  of  the 
man  Jesus,  the  author  drew  this  garment,  woven 
of  the  solar  rays ;  and  in  place  of  the  simple  doc- 
trinp  of  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  which  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth  taught  as  a  preparation  for 
the  heavenly  kingdom,  he  substituted  his  own  mys- 
tical and  dogmatic  theology,  which  for  ages  has 


•The  author  has  no  sympathy  with  that  extreme  view 
which  would  reduce  nearly  all  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments to  a  series  of  mythological  relations.  The  historical 
character  and  general  accuracy  of  these  narratives  have 
been  abundautly  proven.  There  is  no  doubt,  however,  a 
strongiatertuiniTliag  of  mythulogical  elements  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  pre-Mosaic  period,  much  of  it  of  Babylonian  or 
Chaldean  origin.  The  truth  evidently  lies  between  the 
two  extremes,  and  a  ni'^e  discrimination  is  often  required 
to  distinguish  myth  from  history. 


170        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

weighed  like  an  incubus  upon  the  life  and  thought 
of  Christendom. 


Spiritaal  Symbolism:  <<The  Oriental  GhriBt." 

Though  it  is  thus  evident  that  many  of  the 
miraculous  events  in  the  gospel  narratives  have 
their  parallel  in  similar  relations  concerning  the 
religious  teachers  or  alleged  incarnate  deities  of 
other  faiths,  though  we  find  such  notions  as  the 
miraculous  conception,  the  virgin  mother,  the  birth 
in  a  cave  connected  with  the  stories  of  many  other 
alleged  incarnations  of  God  besides  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth, and  discover  also  that  these  and  other  similar 
ideas  have  their  origin  and  explanation  in  a 
primitive  solar  mythology,  it  should  likewise  be 
remembered  that  in  Christianity,  as  well  as  in  the 
older  religions  which  drew  their  symbols  from  the 
phenomena  of  nature,  an  inner  spiritual  interpre- 
tation pervaded  the  material  symbolism;  and  the 
physical  origin  of  the  figures  was  doubtless  often 
forgotten  or  regarded  as  relatively  unimportant. 

We  have  already  noted  the  fact  that  a  large 
proportion  of  the  comparisons  that  have  been 
drawn  between  the  Buddhist  and  the  Christian 
traditions  appears  on  their  Christian  side  in  the 
extraneous  mythological  elements  of  the  Synopti- 
cal Gospels,  of  non-Jewish  origin,  and  in  the  un- 
historical  narrative  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  It  is 
noticeably,  also,  this  ideal  Christ  of  the  Christian 
mythology  and  the  Fourth  Gospel — the  incarnate 
Logos — rather  than  the  historical  Jesus  of  the 
Triple  Tradition  which   constitutes  the  "Oriental 


MYTH   AND   MIRACLE  171 

Christ"  of  Protap  Chunder  Mozoomdar  aad  the 
Brahmo  Somaj  of  India.  The  natural  genius  of 
the  Jew  differs  as  widely  from  that  of  the  Hindu 
as  does  the  genius  of  the  Orient  from  that  of  the 
Occident.  The  one  is  distinctively  and  character- 
istically Semitic :  the  other  is  distinctively  and 
characteristically  Aryan.  The  religion  of  Jesus 
was  simple,  practical,  free  from  mysticism.  That 
of  India,  whether  illustrated  in  the  ancient  Brah- 
manical  literature  or  in  the  theistic  rhapsodies  of 
the  followers  of  Chunder  Sen,  is  quite  the  opposite. 
The  "Oriental  Christ"  of  the  eloquent  Hindu  is  an 
Aryan  and  not  a  Semite.  He  possesses  few  of  the 
recognizable  traits  of  the  historical  Jesus.* 

The  confusion  of  these  two  entirely  distinct 
ideals  of  character, — of  the  Jesus  of  history  with 
the  legendary  Christ, — in  the  popular  and  uncriti- 
cal perception,  is  unfortunate  and  misleading.  By 
no  arbitrary  process,  but  by  following  the  guidance 
of  the  Triple  Tradition  of  the  synoptical  Gospels, 

*  At  the  very  time  when  these  lectures  were  in  process  of 
composition  and  delivery,  the  history  of  the  Brahmo  Somaj 
in  India  was  presenting;  a  most  striking  and  significant 
illustration  of  the  rapidity  with  which  assumptions  of  a 
superhuman  or  divine  character  grow  up  about  a  noble 
human  personality.  Hardly  has  Keshub  Chunder  Sen 
been  placed  upon  his  funerd  pyre,  when  his  disciples 
commence  to  speak  of  him  almost  in  the  precise  terms  in 
which  the  Fourth  Gospel  refers  to  .Jesus.  In  a  resolution 
lately  passed  by  the  Apostolic  Council  of  the  "New  Dis- 
pensation" occurs  the  following:  "We  believe  our  minis- 
ter was  living  in  the  bosom  of  God  as  the  minister  of  the 
New  Dispeusation  before  the  beginning  of  creation.  And 
our  relationship  with  him  is  not  for  time,  but  for  eternity. 
None  can  accept  this  dispensation  except  through  him. .  .  . 
Hence,  when  preaching  the  New  Dispensation,  it  is  need- 
ful to  proclaim  his  eternal  relationship  with  the  same." 
No  better  illustration  could  possibly  be  afforded  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  Man  Jesus  became  the  ideal  Christ, 
or  of  the  marvellously  short  time  required,  in  the  right 
intellectual  soil,  for  this  remarkable  transformation. 


172         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

we  have  succeeded  in  eliminating  the  extraneous 
accretions  from  the  essential  teaching  and  per- 
sonal characteristics  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth, 
thus  discovering  him  as  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews, 
and  as  a  man  of  men.  While  it  is  quite  possible 
that  some  of  the  mythical  elements  which  enter 
into  the  Christian  tradition  in  its  second  period  of 
development,  and  perhaps  also  some  of  the  doc- 
trinal and  dogmatic  teachings  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  may  have  been  derived  from  the  mytholo- 
gies and  philosophies  of  India,  we  may  safely 
conclude  that  no  such  connection  can  be  estab- 
lished with  the  life  or  doctrine  of  the  historical 
Jesus.  The  confusion  of  these  two  distinct  ideals — 
the  one  historical  and  real,  the  other  mythical  and 
unreal — in  the  popular  conception  of  the  founder 
of  Christianity  is  seen  to  have  resulted  naturally 
from  the  contact  of  the  new  religion  with  its  local 
and  temporal  environment.  The  circumstance  is 
by  no  means  exceptional  or  remarkable.  Similar 
accretions  of  the  marvellous  have  gathered  around 
the  persons  of  the  leaders  and  demi-gods  of  all  the 
ancient  religions.  To  have  discovered  a  religion 
without  these  legendary  accompaniments,  that, 
indeed,  would  have  been  a  notable  exception ;  but 
no  such  exception  can  be  urged  in  support  of  the 
exclusive  claims  of  Christianity.  In  our  subse- 
quent discussion,  it  will  appear  still  more  clearly, 
I  think,  that,  judged  in  the  court  of  reason  and 
according  to  the  accessible  evidence  of  history, 
regarded  in  the  light  of  the  new  science  of  com- 
parative religion,  Christianity  is  no  exceptional 
faith.      Its    claims    of    supernatural    origin    and 


MYTH   AND    MIRACLE  173 

attestation  by  miracle  are  unfounded  and  irra- 
tional. Like  all  the  other  religions  of  the  world, 
it  is  a  human  institution,  a  natural  growth  out 
of  pre-existing  conditions,  the  product  of  our 
Father,  Mak. 


VII. 

THE  CHRISTIANITY  OF  PAUL. 

Next  to  the  personality  of  Jesus,  that  of  Paul  is 
the  most  interesting  and  noteworthy  in  the  history 
of  primitive  Christianity.  Auguste  Comte  and 
other  students  of  this  history  have  even  assumed 
for  Paul  the  credit  of  being  the  real  founder  of 
the  Christian  religion,  regarding  the  gospel  story 
as  a  mythical  and  legendary  relation  of  no  his- 
torical value.  Our  previous  discussion,  however, 
has  prepared  us  to  reject  this  hasty  conclusion,  and 
to  assign  to  Jesus  his  proper  historical  position. 
"In  Jesus  himself,"  says  Prof.  Allen,  .  .  .  "there 
were  —  besides  the  indefinable  something  which 
resides  in  personality — at  least  two  elements,  one 
of  vast  personal  force  and  the  other  of  great 
historical  significance:  his  intense  conception  of 
purely  moral  truth  and  of  religion  as  a  life,  and 
his  equally  intense  conviction  of  his  calling  as  the 
Messiah  of  the  Jews.  These  were  the  necessary 
antecedents  of  the  revolution. . .  .  But,  as  soon  as 
the  movement  widens  out  beyond  the  narrow 
range  of  a  merely  personal  and  local  influence, 
then  the  life  and  work  of  Paul  come  to  be  just  as 
essential  to  any  real  understanding  of  it."* 

•Saint  Paul,  in  Christian  History,  vol.  i.  By  Prof. 
Joseph  Henry  Allen. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL,  175 

Our  only  reliable  record  of  the  teaching  of  Paul 
is  found  in  the  genuine  Pauline  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  are  the 
earliest  extant  Christian  writings.  The  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  which  in  some  particulars  confirms 
the  testimony  of  the  Epistles,  in  others  distorts 
or  contradicts  it,  and  is  therefore  of  very  little 
historical  value  in  our  study  of  Paul,  except  as  it 
gives  us  some  information,  probably  from  reliable 
sources,  of  his  early  life  and  history.  The  date  of 
its  composition  is  much  later  than  the  dates  of  the 
Epistles;  and  its  general  character  is  that  of  a 
"tendency  writing,"  the  object  of  which  is  not  so 
much  the  dissemination  of  historical  truth  as  the 
reconciliation  of  two  conflicting  parties,  into  which, 
as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  the  early  Christian  com- 
munities came  to  be  divided. 

Of  the  fourteen  Epistles  attributed  to  Paul  by 
the  current  orthodox  tradition,  all  except  four — 
Romans,  First  and  Second  Corinthians,  and  Gala- 
tians — have  had  their  authenticity  questioned  by 
able  critics.  There  are  unquestionably  differences 
in  thought  traceable  in  the  earlier  and  later 
Epistles;  and,  in  the  case  of  Hebrews,  these  differ- 
ences are  so  marked,  and  are  accompanied  by  such 
a  notable  divergence  in  style  and  phraseology,  that 
we  are  justified  in  concluding  that  Paul  could  not 
have  been  its  author.  With  this  exception,  how- 
ever, and  with  the  exception  also  of  the  Epistles  to 
Timothy  *  and  Titus,  and  perhaps  also  Ephesians, 

♦The  Epistle  to  Timothy  is  dated  "from  Laodicea,  which 
is  the  chiefest  city  of  Phrygia  Pacatiana" ;  but  Phrysia  was 
not  separated  into  three  divisions,  of  which  "I'hrvijia 
Pacatiana  was  one,  unt -I  the  fourth  century.  See  Horue's 
Introduction,  ii.,  174.  The  Epistle,  however,  was  of  earlier 
da.e,  though  not  written  by  Paul. 


176        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  internal  evidence  would  appear  stronger  in 
favor  of  their  authenticity  than  in  opposition 
thereto.  The  differences  of  thought  observable 
are  no  greater  than  might  be  expected  in  the 
mental  progress  of  a  man  of  the  wide  experience 
and  great  mental  activity  of  Paul.* 

The  liegend  of  the  Resurrection. 

Paul  is  the  earliest  witness  to  the  prevalence  of 
the  legend  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  among  his 
disciples  and  followers.f  Since  Paul  bases  his 
Christian  belief  and  teaching  upon  this  phenome- 
non as  an  established  fact^  and  since  Christendom 
has  accepted  it  as  the  foundation  stone  of  its 
spiritual  edifice,  it  becomes  necessary,  in  our  further 
consideration  of  the  evolution  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian faith,  to  investigate  briefly  the  evidences  of 
this  remarkable  occurrence,  as  presented  in  the 
writings  of  the  New  Testament.  The  Triple  Tra- 
dition says  nothing  of  any  miraculous  appearance 
of  Jesus  after  death,  nor  of  his  ascension  to 
heaven,  the  concluding  verses  of  Mark  being 
admittedly  a  spurious  addition  to  or  alteration  of 
the  original  manuscript.  In  the  account  of  the 
oldest  Gospel, §  the  two  Marys  and  Salome,  going 
to  the  sepulchre  at  sunrise  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  find  the  heavy  stone  rolled  away  from  its 

*The  leading  Epistles  of  Paul  were  probably  written  in 
about  the  following  order:  1,  II.  Thess.,  about  A.D.  52; 
2, 1.  Thess-.A.D.  53;  3. 1.  Cor.,  A.D.  57;  4,  II.  Cor.,  A.D.  57; 
5,  Gal.,  A.D.  58;  6,  Romans,  A.D.  58;  7,  Phile.,  A.D.  62; 
8,  Col.,  A.D.  C2;  9,  Phil.,  A.D.  63.  For  a  discussion  of  their 
authenticity,  see  15aur.  Chadwick  {Bible  of  To-day),  Super' 
natural  lietigion,  Kenan's  Saint  Paul,  etc. 

1 1.  Cor.  XV  ,  3-8;  I.  Thes^.  i.,  10,  etc. 
X  Ibid.,  XT.,  17.  §  Mark  xvi.,  1-8. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF    PAUL  177 

entrance,  and  discover  "a  young  man,  .  .  .  clothed 
in  a  long  white  garment,"  sitting  within  the 
sepulchre.  He  informs  them  that  Jesus  is  risen, 
and  bids  them  tell  Peter  and  the  other  disciples 
that  the  Master  has  gone  before  them  into  Galilee, 
where  they  shall  see  him  as  he  had  promised. 

In  Matthew,*  the  "young  man  in  a  long  white 
garment"  has  become  "an  angel  of  the  Lord," 
whose  "countenance  was  like  lightning,  and  his 
raiment  white  as  snow."  The  two  Marys  go  to 
the  sepulchre,  and  are  addressed  by  the  angel; 
but  no  mention  is  made  of  Salome.  Jesus  now 
appears,  first  to  the  women,  near  the  sepulchre, 
and  afterward  to  the  eleven  disciples  in  Galilee. 
The  record  of  his  reappearance  is  very  brief;  and 
it  is  significantly  added,  "And  when  they  saw  him, 
they  worshipped  him;  but  some  doubted."  This 
Gospel  contains  no  record  of  the  ascension  of 
Jesus.f 

In  Luke,t  we  find  the  women,  including  one 
Joanna,  not  before  mentioned,  going  to  the  sepul- 
chre as  before,  but  not  alone;  for  "certain  others 
were  with  them."  Instead  of  a  single  "young 
man"  or  "angel"  as  in  the  earlier  gospels,  we  have 
now  "two  men  in  shining  garments,"  who  converse, 
apparently  in  concert,  with  the  women.  Then 
follows  a  long  and  circumstantial  account  of  the 
appearance  of  Jesus  to  the  disciples, — not  in  Gali- 
lee, as  expressly  declared  in   the  earlier  Gospels, 

*Matt.  xxYiii. 

t  On  the  contrary,  tbe  final  words,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,"  would  appear  to 
exclude  the  ascension  definitely  from  the  thought  of  tbia 
writer. 

t  Luke  xxiv. 


178         A    STUDY    OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

but  at  Emmaus  near  Jerusalem,  and  afterward  in 
Jerusalem  itself.  Subsequently,  without  going  to 
Galilee  at  all,  he  parts  from  them  and  ascends  to 
heaven  from  Bethany. 

In  the  Fourth  Gospel,*  the  story  is  still  further 
altered  and  exaggerated.  Mary  Magdalene  first 
discovers  the  removal  of  the  stone  from  the  sepul- 
chre, and  reports  it  to  Peter  and  John,  who  run 
thither  in  haste.  John  arrives  first,  and  discovers 
the  sepulchre  to  be  vacant,  but  with  the  grave 
clothes  still  remaining.  In  the  synoptics,  the  res- 
urrection is  represented  as  an  anticipated  event 
which  Jesus  himself  had  prophesied ;  but  here  we 
are  informed  that  Peter  and  John  "as  yet  knew 
not  the  scripture,  that  he  should  rise  from  the 
dead."  The  "two  men  in  shining  garments"  of 
Luke  have  here  become  "two  angels  in  white,  the 
one  sitting  at  the  foot  and  the  other  at  the  head 
of  where  the  body  of  Jesus  had  lain."  Jesus 
appears  first  to  Mary  and  afterward  to  the  disci- 
ples, apparently  in  Jerusalem  or  the  near  vicinity, 
passing  mysteriously  into  their  midst,  where  they 
sat  with  closed  doors.  He  shows  them  his  wounded 
hands  and  side,  and  permits  doubting  Thomas  to 
thrust  his  finger  into  the  wound.  Subsequently, 
in  Galilee,  he  eats  and  drinks  with  the  disciples. 
The  Fourth  Gospel  contains  no  record  of  the 
ascension;  but  the  long  and  circumstantial  account 
of  his  reappearances  concludes  with  the  remarkable 

*John  XX.,  xxi.  In  the  Fourth  Gospel,  Mary  does  not 
recos^uize  Jesm  when  he  addresses  her,  but  supposes  him 
to  be  the  gardener;  in  Luke,  the  disciples  converse  with 
him  a  long  time  before  they  discover  his  identity, — most 
improbable  circumstances,  tending  to  discredit  the  entire 
story. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF    PAUL  179 

assertion,  "There  are  also  many  other  things  that 
Jesus  did,  the  which  if  they  should  be  written 
every  one,  I  suppose  that  even  the  world  itself 
could  not  contain  the  books  that  should  be 
written."* 

The  striking  and  indisputable  evidences  thus 
presented  in  the  gospel  narratives  of  the  gradual 
growth  and  exaggeration  of  the  legend,  together 
with  the  evident  contradictions  of  the  different 
writers,  even  were  their  personalities  known  and 
their  reliability  as  witnesses  incontestable,  would 
justify  us  in  relegating  the  entire  story  to  the  region 
of  myth  and  legend,  in  which  there  is  no  substan- 
tial basis  of  actual  fact.    All  that  we  can  rationally 
infer  from  these  relations  is  the  probability  that 
the  sepulchre  of  Jesus  was  visited  soon  after  his 
burial,  and  discovered  to  be  empty.     We  can  only 
conjecture  in  regard  to  the  actual  disposition  of 
the  body.    It  may  have  been  removed  by  friendly 
hands  to  prevent  the  violation  of  the  burial-place 
by  enemies,  or  by  the  Roman  authorities  to  thwart 
the  curiosity  of  the  disciples  or  the  inhabitants  of 
the  neighboring  city.     Renan  even  suggests  the 
theory  of  a  swoon  and  subsequent  resuscitation,t 
noting  the  fact  that  the  legs  were  not  broken  after 
the  body  was  taken  from  the  cross,  as  was  the 
custom  with  crucified  malefactors.     This  hypothe- 
sis, however,  hardly  appears  reasonable. 

♦Johnxxi.,  23. 

t  So  also  the  author  of  Supernatural  Religion,  who  notes 
that  the  body  remained  upon  the  cross  a  much  shorter 
time  than  usual.  The  question  would  then  rise,  however, 
what  became  of  Jesus  after  his  resuscitation?  The  diffi- 
culties In  answering  this  questioa  consistently  with  the 
prevalent  belief  in  a  supernatural  resurrection  are  greater 
than  those  involved  in  the  other  solution. 


180        A   STUDY   OF   PIIIMITIVE   CHKISTIANITV 

Though  the  story  of  the  resurrection  is  thus 
seen  to  have  no  rational  foundation,  even  in  the 
circumstantial  accounts  of  the  gospel  writers,  there 
is  abundant  evidence  that  the  legend  obtained  very 
early  credence  among  the  disciples  and  followers 
of  Jesus.  Nor  is  it  in  any  way  remarkable  that 
this  should  be  the  case.  The  immediate  followers 
of  Jesus  were,  in  the  main,  a  rude,  uneducated 
people,  believing  in  the  possibility  of  all  sorts  of 
miraculous  occurrences,  and  especially  impressed 
with  the  belief  in  the  general  resurrection  of  the 
just  at  the  advent  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  Pro- 
foundly influenced  by  tie  life  and  teachings  of  the 
Master,  confidently  regarding  him  as  the  expected 
Messiah  of  his  people,  recovering  from  the  first 
shock  of  his  tragical  removal,  and  informed  that 
his  sepulchre  had  been  visited  and  found  vacant, 
— confirming  this  assertion,  doubtless,  with  their 
own  vision, — what  could  be  more  natural  than 
that  the  thought  should  take  possession  of  them 
that  he  had  risen,  becoming,  as  Paul  declares, 
the  "first-fruits" *  of  the  final  resurrection?  The 
thouorht  no  sooner  occurred  than  it  found  utter- 
ance:  "He  is  risen  1  He  has  triumphed  over  his 
enemies.  He  will  come  again,  sustained  by  the 
infinite  power  of  the  heavenly  Father,  and  com- 
plete his  work."  If  the  synoptical  tradition  is 
reliable,  they  had  abundant  reason  for  this  expec- 
tation in  the  promises  of  Jesus  himself.f  It  is 
quite  probable,  however,  that  the  language  here 
attributed  to  him  had  its  origin,  or  suffered  mate- 
rial modification,  after  the  belief  in  the  resurrec- 


*I.  Cor.  XV.,  20.  t  Mark  ix.,  31 ;  Matt,  xvd.,  23,  etc. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL  181 

tion  as  an  accomplished  fact  had  been  generally 
received  among  his  followers ;  growing,  doubtless, 
out  of  some  assurance  which  he  had  given  of  the 
general  resurrection  at  the  anticipated  advent  of 
the  heavenly  kingdom. 

Paul's  Doctrine  of  the  Besarrection. 

Paul's  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  unlike  that 
of  the  Gospels,  did  not  involve  the  belief  in  the 
resuscitation  of  the  physical  body.  With  him,  it 
presupposed  no  such  reanimation  of  flesh  and 
blood  and  bones,  of  gaping  wounds  and  bodily 
appetites,  as  is  described  to  us  in  the  gospel  sto- 
ries. "Flesh  and  blood,"  he  declared,  "cannot  in- 
herit the  kingdom  of  God."*  A  spiritual  body 
possessing  form  and  substance,  doubtless,  but  of 
an  ethereal  nature,  and  without  the  fleshly  weak- 
nesses and  appetites  of  the  present  life,  was  to  be 
the  habitation  of  the  soul  in  the  life  to  come. 
Paul's  conception  appears  to  have  been,  not  that 
Jesus  had  been  restored  bodily  to  life,  but  that,  in 
spiritual  form,  he  was  "raised  from  the  dead"  ;  that 
is,  that  he  was  released  from  sTieol,  the  resting- 
place  of  the  dead  prior  to  the  general  resurrection, 
and  had  ascended  to  paradise,  the  dwelling-place  of 
God  and  the  angels,  whence  he  would  soon  return 
to  judge  the  world  and  inaugurate  the  heavenly 
kingdom. 

Paul  expressly  declares  that  his  own  vision  of 
the  crucified  Jesus  was  of  precisely  the  same  char- 

•I.  Cor.  XV.,  50.  Read  the  entire  chapter  for  a  better 
nnderstanding  of  Paul's  doctrine  of  the  resurrection. 
Also  I.  Thess.  iv.,  13-18. 


182         A    STUDY   OF    I'RIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

acler  as  that  of  the  other  apostles.*  He  bases  his 
claim  to  be  an  aposUe,  indeed,  upon  this  fact. 
From  his  own  account  of  this  vision,  we  readily 
gather  the  conclusion  that  it  was  an  experience 
entirely  subjective  in  its  character.  Paul  appears 
to  have  had  a  peculiarly  susceptible  nervous  organ- 
ization, and  to  have  been  subject  to  visions  and 
ecstasies.  This,  indeed,  he  admits  and  describes, 
saying  of  one  such  experience  that  he  knew  not 
"whether  he  was  in  the  body  or  out  of  the  body."t 
The  testimony  of  Paul,  therefore,  which  is  the 
earliest  and  most  reliable  testimony  to  the  resur- 
rection of  Jesus,  appears  to  be  based  wholly  upon 
a  subjective  vision,  and  cannot  be  held  to  substan- 
tiate the  objective  fact  of  his  bodily  reanimation 
and  reappearance. 

The  Elnrlr  ]L.ife  o£  Paal. 

The  great  Apostle  of  Christianity  to  the  Gen- 
tiles was  born  at  Tarsus,  in  Cilicia,  a  province  of 
Asia  Minor,  about  ten  years  after  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Christian  era,  as  usually  reckoned,  or 
some  fourteen  years,  probably,  after  the  birth  of 
Jesus.  His  parents  were  Pharisaic  Jews ;  and  they 
bestowed  upon  him  the  name  of  Saul,  after  the 
first  king  of  united  Israel.  He  was  brought  up,  as 
he  declares,  "after  the  strictest  sect  of  the  Phari- 
sees." His  education  was  doubtless  superior  to 
that  of  any  of  the  immediate  disciples  of  Jesus. 
Among  his  teachers  was  the  celebrated  Rabbi  Ga- 
maliel. His  writings  give  evidence  of  some  ac- 
quaintance with  the  Greek  poets,  and  to  a  greater 

•I.  Cor.  ix.,  1;  xv.,  8;  Gal.  i.,  12,  fE.  t  II.  Cor.  i.,  4. 


THE    CHRISTIANITY   OF    PAUL,  183 

and  notable  degree  with  the  Platonic  philosophy 
as  well  as  with  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  Paul's 
familiarity  with  the  philosophy  of  Plato  has  often 
been  recognized,  and  has  recently  been  made  the 
subject  of  an  interesting  essay  by  Dr.  Alexander 
Wilder,  one  of  our  most  indefatigable  students  of 
ancient  philosophy  and  the  Oriental  religions.* 
An  able  orthodox  scholar,  Rev.  Dr.  Storrs,  also  rec- 
ognized this  fact,  incidentally,  in  a  late  address,  in 
which  he  asserted  of  Saint  Augustine  that  a  pas- 
sage from  Cicero  led  him  to  Plato,  thence  naturally 
to  Paul,  and  thence  to  the  study  of  the  Christian 
religion. f 

The  parents  of  Saul  had  acquired  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  Roman  citizens,  either  as  libertini, 
or  emancipated  slaves,  or  for  some  special  service 
rendered  the  Roman  State.  In  accordance  with  a 
prevalent  Jewish  custom,  which  required  that 
every  youth  should  be  instructed  in  some  useful 
art,  Saul  learned  that  of  tent-making;  or  rather, 
probably,  the  weaving  of  the  coarse  cloth  called 
"cilicia," — from  the  name  of  his  native  province, 
— of  which  tents  and  sails  were  usually  made. 

The  description  of  his  personal  appearance  can 
hardly  be  better  given  than  in  the  words  of  Prof. 
Allen :  "Paul,  then,  according  to  the  legends,  was 
a  man  little  of  stature, — under  five  feet  high,  they 
say, — high-shouldered,  beetle-browed,  with  head 
bent  forward,  his  beard  and  hair  at  middle  life  of 
an  iron  gray;  his  brow  wide,  his  face  thin,  his 
eve  deep  and   somewhat  sad ;   the  dark  eye,  the 

*Paul  and  Plato,  by  Prof.  Alexander  Wilder. 
tRev.  Dr.  Richard"  S.  Storrs,  in  address  at  anniversary 
of  the  Unioji  for  Clirlstian  "Work,  Brooklyn,  N.Y. 


184         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

marked  features,  we  may  suppose,  of  the  strong 
Jewish  type.  His  bodily  presence  was  weak  and 
his  speech  coatemptible,— so  his  enemies  said. 
That  his  speech  was  hesitating  and  slow,  when  not 
aroused,  we  may  believe  easily  enough.  It  was  so 
with  Demosthenes ;  it  was  so  with  Mahomet,  who, 
next  to  Paul,  has  shown  the  most  burning  and 
effective  eloquence  of  the  Semitic  race,  and  in 
whom,  like  Paul,  that  barrier  of  hesitation  gave 
way  on  occasion  to  a  hot  flood  of  eager  and  pas- 
sionate words,  that  stirred  great  floods  of  popular 
conviction."  * 

Blia  Advocacy  of  Judaism  :  Hebrew  Proselytest 

Brought  up  after  the  strictest  tradition  of  the 
Hebrew  formalists,  he  doubtless  early  became  a 
propagandist  of  his  faith,  and  a  vigorous  oppo- 
nent, not  merely  of  alien  religions,  but  more  espe- 
cially of  those  false  brethren  of  his  own  religion 
who  had  departed  from  the  faith  of  their  fathers. 
The  Jews  of  this  period,  already  scattered  in 
diverse  quarters  of  the  world,  had  begun  to  make 
proselytes  from  among  the  heathen  peoples  who 
surrounded  them,  and  were  thus  extending  their 
faith  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  Hebrew  race. 
These  proselytes,  when  received  into  full  commun- 
ion, were  circumcised  and  fulfilled  all  the  cere- 
monial observances  enjoined  by  the  law.  Others 
became  partial  converts,  accepting  the  Hebrew 
doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God,  abjuring  idolatry, 
and  sometimes    attending    worship  at  the  syna- 

*  Christian  History,  vol.  i. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY  OF   PAUL.  185 

gogues,  but  without  cousentiag  to  the  rite  of 
circumcision  or  binding  themselves  to  the  minute 
observances  of  Pharisaic  ritualism.  These  partial 
converts  to  Judaism  were  termed  "proselytes  of 
the  gate."  Many  of  them  became  early  converts 
to  the  Christian  faith,  and  differences  soon  arose 
between  the  en  and  those  followers  of  Jesus  who 
were  also  strict  observers  of  the  law. 

Stephen's  MariTrdom :  The  Coarersiou  of  Saal. 

Stephen,  one  of  the  earliest  martyrs  of  the  new 
religion,  was  a  Greek-speaking  Jew, — the  leader  of 
the  Hellenic  or  liberal  party  in  the  Christian  com- 
munity before  Paul's  conversion,  as  opposed  to  the 
mass  of  the  Jews  and  to  the  stricter  sect  of  Juda- 
izing  Christians.  Already,  we  find  the  germs  of  a 
division  of  the  advocates  of  the  new  religion  into 
conflicting  parties  according  to  their  original  status 
as  Jews  or  Pagans, — a  breach  which,  as  we  shall 
see  hereafter,  ultimately  widened  into  an  almost 
fatal  schism.  Heretofore,  the  Christians  had  been 
popularly  and  justly  regarded  merely  as  a  sect  of 
the  Jews, — the  sect  of  the  fulfilled  Messiahship. 
"Christianity,"  says  Dean  Mil  man,  "as  yet  was  but 
an  extended  Judaism :  it  was  preached  by  Jews,  it 
was  addressed  to  Jews,  it  was  limited,  national, 
exclusive."*  But  with  the  conversion  of  "prose- 
lytes of  the  gate,"  and  of  heathen  who  had  never 
adopted  the  Jewish  faith,  a  new  element,  and  for 
the  time  a  troublesome  one,  was  introduced  into 
the  infant  community.  Stephen,  a  leader  or  repre- 
sentative of  this  element,  accused  of  violating  the 
*  History  of  Christianity. 


186        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

law  of  Moses  in  favor  of  the  Hellenists,  was  stoned 
to  death  according  to  the  provisions  of  that  law, 
Saul  b3holding  and  consenting  to  his  martyrdom.* 

Fanatic  though  he  was,  however,  there  was 
doubtless  something  in  this  scene — in  the  nobility 
and  heroism  of  the  martyr — which  touched  the 
heart  and  conscience  of  the  Hebrew  propagandist. 
While  travelling  toward  Damascus,  soon  after,  with 
the  purpose  of  continuing  there  the  work  of  puri- 
fying the  religion  of  his  people  by  the  persecution 
of  its  enemies,  he  saw  around  him  a  blinding  light, 
beheld  a  vision  of  the  crucified  Jesus,  and  became 
conscious  of  the  peculiar  subjective  experience 
which  led  to  his  conversion.  He  entered  Damascus, 
no  longer  the  advocate  of  Pharisaic  Judaism,  but 
a  disciple  of  the  Prophet  of  Nazareth.f 

At  what  time  he  signalized  his  change  of  faith 
by  substituting  the  Greek  name  Paul  or  Paulos 
for  his  original  Hebrew  designation,  we  are  not 
informed.  He  probably  assumed  the  new  name 
soon  after  his  conversion,  perhaps  at  the  time  of 
his  baptism.  It  has  been  thought  by  some  that 
he  adopted  it  from  that  of  Sergius  Paulus,^  the 
Roman  pro-consul  of  Cyprus,  a  place  visited  by 
Paul  early  in  his  missionary  career.  Sergius  Paulus 
was  a  man  of  liberal  and  enlightened  mind,  a 
friend  and  protector  of  the  Christians,  though  he 
was  never  baptized  into  the  new  faith.  "Paulos," 
however,  was  a  sort  of  "nickname"  in  use  among 
the  Greeks  and  Greek-speaking  Romans,  meaning 

*  Acts  vi!.,viii. 

1  Compare  Gal.  i.,  11-16,  with  the  story  of  Saul's  conver- 
sion in  Acts  ix.,  1-9. 
J  See  Actsxiii.,7. 


THE    CHRISTIANITY   OF    PAUL  187 

"the  little"  ;  and  it  may  have  beea  first  applied  to 
Saul  la  derision,  and  finally  adopted  by  him  iu 
humble  recognition  of  his  insignificant  size  and 
appearance. 

Paul's   ITIisstouary  I^abora:    Hii^   Relation   to   the 
older  Apoatles. 

About  three  years  elapsed  after  Paul's  conver- 
sion before  he  began  his  remarkable  career  as  a 
Christian  missionary.*  More  than  half  this  time 
was  spent  in  Arabia;  the  balance,  we  know  not 
where, — except  that  he  returned,  first,  to  Damas- 
cus,!— o''  ii  what  manner  he  occupied  himself. 
Doubtless,  he  was  to  some  degree  an  invalid  during 
this  period ;  and  it  is  probable  that  he  also  felt  the 
necessity  of  acquainting  himself  further  with  the 
doctrines  and  traditions  of  the  new  faith  before  he 
appeared  as  its  public  advocate.  This  period  of 
retirement  was  perhaps  in  part  devoted  to  solitary 
meditation,  as  was  the  custom  with  philosophers 
and  the  teachers  of  religion. 

The  limits  of  this  discussion  will  not  permit  us 
to  follow  Paul  through  all  the  details  of  his  re- 
markable career  as  an  advocate  of  Christianity. 
After  this  period  of  retirement,  he  visited  Peter 
and  James  at  Jerusalem,^  but  apparently  received 
little  encouragement  from  them  in  his  new  labor. 
It  is  not  remarkable  that  the  older  apostles  should 
hesitate  to  give  full  credence  to  the  honesty  of 
purpose  of  their  old-time  persecutor,  especially  as 
they  regarded  his  claim  to  be  au  apostle — a  claim 
which  he  based,  not  upon  their  commission,  but 

•  Gal.  1.,  18.  t  Gal,  i.,  17.  JGal.  i.,  18, 19. 


188         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

upon  his  own  alleged  communication  with  the 
risen  Saviour — as  a  false  and  indefensible  pre- 
tence which  conflicted  with  their  proper  authority 
as  the  chosen  companions  and  representatives  of 
Jesus.  Paul  made  another  brief  visit  to  Jerusalem 
fourteen  years  later  *  for  the  purpose  of  declaring 
his  gospel  and  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  Gre- 
cian and  non-Jewish  converts.  He  also  met  Peter 
once  at  Antioch ;  but,  beyond  this,  he  appears  to 
have  had  little  intercourse  with  the  personal  fol- 
lowers of  Jesus. 

The  Two  Parties  in  the  Garly  Charch. 

In  the  discussion  which  arose  between  Peter  and 
Paul  and  their  respective  adherents,  in  reference  to 
the  necessity  of  submitting  to  the  rites  and  ordi- 
nances of  Judaism  as  a  preliminary  to  Christian 
baptism,  Paul  finally  announced  the  principle  that 
the  acceptance  of  the  gospel  abrogated  the  neces- 
sity for  the  formal  observances  required  by  the 
law,t  and  claimed  complete  freedom  for  the  con- 
vert as  to  the  adoption  of  the  rite  of  circumcision, 
and  other  points  in  dispute  between  the  Judaizing 
and  the  Gentile  Christians.  The  "Acts  of  the 
Apostles,"  which  evidently  perverts  the  facts  of 
history  in  the  interest  of  its  obvious  overmaster- 
ing purpose,  endeavors  to  convey  the  impression 
that  compromise  and  agreement  were  successfully 
accomplished  during  the  lifetime  of  the  apostles. 
The  probability  is,  however,  that  the  conflict  con- 
tinued, and  was  transmitted  to  later  generations. 

*Gal.ii.,  1. 
t  Rom.  vii.,  4-6  ;  II.  Cor.  iii.,  (J-IS  ;  Gal.  ili ,  22-29  ;  iv.,  6,  etc. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY  OF   PAUL  189 

We  have  Paul's  own  declaration,  on  the  occasion 
of  his  interview  with  Peter  at  Antioch,  that  he 
"withstood"  him  "to  his  very  face."  * 

The  evidences  of  this  conflict  in  the  writings  of 
Paul,  and  on  the  opposing  side  in  the  Apocalypse 
and  Petrine  Epistles,  as  well  as  in  the  writings  of 
Hegisippus  and  others  of  the  early  Fathers  of  the 
Church,  are  very  numerous.  In  the  Book  of  Rev- 
elations, the  followers  of  Paul  are  doubtless  de- 
nounced under  the  names  of  Balaamites  and  Nico- 
laitines,f  and  are  charged  with  various  offences, 
including  the  eating  of  meats  offered  to  idols. 
Paul  himself  discouraged  the  use  of  such  meats 
when  their  character  and  connection  with  pagan 
sacrifices  were  known  ;  but  he  allows  exceptions  in 
certain  cases,  and  doubtless  some  of  his  Gentile 
followers  were  even  more  liberal  than  he  was  in 
their  disregard  of  the  injunctions  of  the  Jewish 
law.  The  author  of  the  Apocalypse,  who  was 
probably  the  Apostle  John,  doubtless  regarded 
Paul  as  the  instigator  of  these  "false  doctrines" ; 
for  he  expressly  excludes  him  in  his  enumeration 
of  the  twelve  apostles,^  and  elsewhere  commends 
the  church  at  Ephesus  because  it  could  not  bear 
"those  who  said  they  were  apostles,  and  were  not, 
but  tried  them  and  found  them  false  apostles,"§ — 
an  evident  allusion  to  Paul.  Heathenism  and 
Judaism  were  world-wide  antipode?  in  the  thought 
of  the  writer  of  the  Apocalypse.  The  former  is 
denounced  as  the  kingdom  of  Antichrist,  and  the 
Gentiles  exist  only  to  share  the  final  fate  of  this 
arch  enemy  of  the  heavenly  kingdom. 

•  Gal.  ii.,  11.  t  Rev.  ii.,  14-20. 

tBev.  xxi.,  14.  §EeT.  ii.,  2. 


190        A   STUl^Y   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

The  early  Fathers  of  th,3  Church  generally 
ignored  Paul  or  discredited  his  authority.  Clement 
of  Rome  and  Polycarp  possibly  allude  to  him,  once 
each,  in  passages  of  doubtful  authenticity.*  Papias, 
who  wrote  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century, 
nowhere  mentions  Paul  or  any  of  his  followers, 
though  he  speaks  of  the  other  apostles.  Justin 
Martyr,  who  must  have  been  acquainted  with  the 
labors  and  writings  of  Paul,  studiously  avoids  any 
allusion  to  him;  and  Hegisippus  refers  to  him, 
though  not  mentioning  his  name,  only  to  contradict 
one  of  his  assertions.  He  quotes  against  Paul's 
statement,  "Eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard, 
neither  have  entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  the 
things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  those  that 
love  him,"f  the  seemingly  contradictory  assertion 
of  Jesus,  "Blessed  are  your  eyes,  for  they  see ; 
and  your  ears,  for  they  hear."J  The  earlier  recog- 
nized leaders  in  the  Church  appear  to  have  sympa- 
thized rather  with  the  Judaizing  Christians  than 
with  the  followers  of  Paul.  In  the  final  result,  as 
we  know,  there  were  compromise  and  reconciliation, 
and  upon  essentially  Pauline  ground;  but  Paul 
himself  obtained  little  recognition  from  the  early 
Church.  The  Catholic  hierarchy  appropriated  his 
theology,  but  traced  back  its  credentials  to  the 
name  and  authority  of  his  antagonist,  the  Apostle 
Peter.  Of  the  two  parties,  the  Petrine  or  Judaizing 
Christians,  early  known  as  the   Nazarenes,   and 

♦The  Epistle  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians  is  afljudged 
by  the  author  ot  Supernatural  Religion  and  other  able 
critics  to  be  largely  interi)olate(l.  The  passage  in  Poly- 
carp's  Epistle  to  the  Philippians  in  which  Paul's  name 
occurs  is  found  only  in  a  Latin  text  of  doubtful  reliability. 
1 1.  Cor.  ii.,  9.  J  Matt,  xiii.,  16. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL  191 

afterward  as  the  Ebioaites,  whose  tenets  and  pecu 
liarities  will  be  further  described  in  a  subsequen 
lecture,  were  finally  absorbed  into  the  great  cur 
rent  of  orthodox  Christian  life  or  died  out  foi 
want  of  a  further  raison  d'etre ;  *  while  the  extreme 
Paulinists  evolved  into  the  heretical  sect  of  the 
JSIarcionites,  who,  with  their  Gnostic  coadjutors 
ultimately  succumbed  also  to  the  widening  and 
deepening  current  of  Christian  Orthodoxy. 

The  Conclasion  of  Paul's  liabors ;  his  Death. 

The  missionary  labors  of  Paul  extended  to  all 
the  great  capitals  of  the  west, — to  Antioch,  Ephe 
BUS,  Athens,  Corinth,  and  Rome,  to  the  barbarian 
neighborhoods  of  Lystra,  Galatia,  and  Melita.  We 
hear  of  him  in  Cyprus,  Salamis,  and  Paphos,  in 
Pamphylia  in  Asia  Minor,  at  Iconium,  Philippi, 
and  Thessalonica.  Everywhere,  he  found  colonies 
of  Jews  and  proselytes.  He  taught  in  their  syna- 
gogues, converted  many,  especially  of  the  Hellenic 
proselytes,  and  established  congregations  of  the 
new  religion.  Often,  he  met  with  encouragement ; 
oftener,  perhaps,  with  distrust,  abuse,  or  violent 
opposition.  "Of  the  Jews,"  he  says,  "five  times 
received  I  forty  stripes  save  one.  Thrice  was  I 
beaten  with  rods,  once  was  I  stoned,  thrice  I 
suffered  shipwreck,   a    day  and  a   night  I  have 

*  The  growth  of  a  Christian  Orthodoxy,  based  upon  the 
dogmas  of  the  miraculous  birth  of  Jesus  and  of  his  prac- 
tical equality  with  G-od,  soon  put  an  end  to  Christian  pros- 
elyting among  the  Jews,  since  these  dogmas  were  abhor- 
rent to  and  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  principles  of 
Judaism.  The  sects  who  rejected  these  dogmas  were  de- 
nounced as  heretics,  and  ultimately  excluded  from  the 
Christian  communion.  Thus  was  Jesus  crucified  anew  in 
the  person  of  his  own  followers,  in  the  name  of  the  ideal 
Christ. 


192         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

been  in  the  deep.  In  jouraeyings  often,  in  perils 
by  my  own  countrymen,  in  perils  in  the  sea,  in 
perils  among  false  brethren  ;  in  weariness  and  pain- 
fulness,  in  watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst, 
in  fastings  often,  in  cold  and  nakedness."* 

Charged  with  stirring  up  public  dissensions,  and 
carried  finally  to  Rome  for  trial  by  reason  of  his  ap- 
peal to  his  rights  as  a  Roman  citizen,  he  remained 
there  about  three  years,  and  then  passed  forever 
from  the  light  of  history.  The  traditions  of  his 
subsequent  journeyings  and  labors  in  Spain,  Gaul, 
and  Britain,  are,  doubtless,  wholly  unreliable.  The 
probable  termination  of  his  stay  in  Rome  nearly 
approximates  to  the  period  of  the  Christian  perse- 
cutions, instigated  by  the  infamous  Nero.  Some 
have  supposed  that  both  Paul  and  Peter  suffered 
martyrdom  in  Rome  at  this  time.  It  is  hardly 
probable,  however,  that  Peter  ever  visited  Rome 
at  all.  Tradition  declares  that  Paul  suffered 
death  by  the  sword  instead  of  the  ordinary  modes 
of  crucifixion  or  burning, — a  privilege  to  which  he 
would  have  been  entitled  by  reason  of  kls  Roman 
citizenship.  All  this,  however,  is  purely  conject- 
ural :  we  really  know  nothing  certainly  in  regard 
to  the  time  or  manner  of  his  death.f 

The  Doctrines  of  Paul:  his  Christology. 

It  remains  now  for  us  to  consider  the  character 
of  Paul's  teaching,  and  its  influence  upon  the  sub- 
sequent development  of  the   Christian  faith.     In 

*II.  Cor.  xi.,  24-27. 
t  See  Baur,  History  of  the  Church  in  the  First  Three 
Christian  Centuries;  also,  Renan,  "Tbe  Antichrist"  (vol.iv. 
of  The  Origins  of  Christianity). 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL 


193 


his  Christology  there  is  a  manifest  advance  from 
the  earlier  tradition  of  the  Synoptical  Gospels.  ^  "In 
trying  to  understand  this  phase  of  his  opinion," 
gays  Prof.   Allen,   "we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
Paul  had  never  known  Jesus  as  a  man,— 'after  the 
flesh,'  as    he  phrases  it.    If    he    had,  we  should 
probably  have  never  known  anything  of  his  Chris- 
tology."   In  his  earlier  writings,  we  have  the  clear 
expression  of  his  belief,  held  in  common  with  the 
other  disciples,   that  Jesus   had  "risen  from  the 
dead,"  and   ascended  to  paradise,  soon  to  return 
and  establish  his  eternal  kingdom  upon  the  regen- 
erated earth.      "The  Lord  himself  shall  descend 
from  heaven    with   a  shout,"  he  says,  "with   the 
voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God : 
and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first:  then  we 
that  are  alive  and  remain  shall  be  caught  up  to- 
gether with  them  in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord 
in  the   air;   and    so  shall  we  ever  be  with  the 

Lord."* 

Paul  appears  to  accept  the  synoptical  doctrine 
of  a  final  judgment  and  eternal  punishment  for 
the  sinner,  f  though  certain  passages  in  his  writings 
have  been  held  by  some  to  suggest  the  belief  in  the 
ultimate  salvation  of  all  men.  "Jesus,"  he  says, 
"shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty 

*I.  Thess.  iv.,16, 17.  .  ^  „  ^  , 
tXhe  punishment,  however,  is  characterized  as  "eternal 
destruction"  or  "eternal  death"  instead  ?«  ''etema'  ^ff " 
or  "torment,"  and  may  not  necessarily  indicate  a  belief 
in  eternal  conscious  sufterin-.  The  "eternal  Hfe  '  on  earth 
in  the  heavenly  kingdom  for  the  righteous  appears  to  be 
contrasted  with  the""" eternal  death"  of  tne  wicked  See 
Romans  ii.,  e-14  ;  iii.,  6-8,  22;  vi.,  23  ;  viii..  ?-14,.29,  30 , 
i":,  1^18,  27  28  :  L,  1-18  ;  xi.,  13,  14,  20^22  ;  xu...  4,  o  ;  xiv  , 
10-12;  I.  Cor.  i.,  18-27;  in.,  .12-17  ;  vi,  9-11;  i?^-  2-27  , 
II.  Cor.  ii.,  15,  16;  v.,  10;  xiu.,  5-7;  Gal.  ▼?■.  6-9,  Phil, 
i.,  27-30;  iii.,  17-21;  Col.  iu.,  12,  25;  II.  Thess.  u.,  8-12. 


194         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them 
that  know  not  God, .  .  .  who  shall  be  punished 
with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord,  and  from  the  glory  of  his  power."  *  As 
the  earliest  belief  in  the  advent  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom  was  gradually  dimmed  by  disappointment 
and  long-waiting  for  the  anticipated  catastrophe, 
Paul's  views  of  Christ  become  less  objective  and 
real,  more  subjective  and  mystical.  "  In  the  Cor- 
inthians," says  Allen,  "Christ  is  first  of  all  a  spirit- 
ual Lord  and  Chief,  'the  head  of  every  man,'  soul 
of  a  body  having  many  members,  the  mystic 
'rock'  of  the  old  Covenant,  the  source  of  doctrine 
and  authority."  "Even  though  we  have  known 
Christ  after  the  flesh,"  says  the  apostle,  "yet  now 
know  we  him  no  more."t  He  is  represented  as 
the  deliverer,  who  has  "redeemed  us  from  the  curse 
of  the  law."  He  is  the  "second  Adam,"  who  gives 
us  life,  as  the  first  Adam  brought  us  death. 

Later,  Paul's  thought  of  Christ  becomes  still 
more  vague  and  visionary,  retaining  scarcely  a 
feature  of  the  man  Jesus  of  the  simple  narrative 
of  the  Synoptical  Gospels.  He  is  a  type  of  the 
divine  energy, — a  personified  idea,  similar  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  Cabalists  and  the  Apocryphal 
writers ;  "the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory,  and 
express  image  of  his  person";  "in  the  form  of 
God,  though  not  claiming  equality  with  God"; 
"image  of  the  invisible,  first-born  of  the  whole 
creation."  Here  we  are  on  the  very  verge  of  the 
mystic  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  which  subsequently 
appears  in  the  Fourth  Gospel,  and  finds  its  exagger- 

*II.  Tl2es8.i.,6-9.  fll- Cor.  v.,16. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL  190 

ated   reflection  in  the  mysticism  of  the   Gnostic 

schools. 

Paul's  Doctrine  of  the  Atonement. 

Though  Paul  himself  does  not  expressly  teach 
the  doctrine  of  a  sacrificial  atonement,— a  doctrine 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  wholly  absent  from  the 
Synoptical  Gospels,— we  may  yet  trace  the  first  de- 
cided steps  toward  its  development  in  his  writings. 
''Paul,"  says  Matthew  Arnold,  "knows  nothing  of 
the  sacrificial  atonement:  what  Paul  knows  of  is 
a  reconciling  sacrifice*    The   true  substitute  for 
Paul  is  not  the  substitute  of  Christ  in  men's  stead 
as  a  victim  on  the  cross  to  God's  offended  justice : 
it  is  the  substitute  by  which  the  believer  in  his 
own  person  repeats  Christ's  dying  to  sin."t    Yet 
in  the  language,  and  doubtless  also  iu  the  thought 
of  Paul,  we  cannot  fail  to  note  an  evident  step  m 
the  direction  of  the  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 
In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  of  which  Paul  is 
almost  certainly  not  the  author,  this  doctrine  is 
announced  in  much  plainer  terms  than  we  can 
discover  in  any  of  the  genuine  Pauline  Epistles; 
while  it  reaches  its  f  uU  development  in  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  wherein  Christ  appears  as  a  substitute  for 
the  paschal  lamb,  an  atoning  sacrifice  for  human 
sins.     The  manifest  exaggeration  of  Paul's  doctrine 
of  the  atonement  by  both  Catholic  and  Protestant 
theologians  is  doubtless  a  legacy  of  misunderstand- 
ing  derived  from  the   misinterpretations  of  Aug-  \ 
BStine.    Writing  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries 
of  our  era  and  trained  in  the  rigid  school  of  Latin 

•See  II.  Cor.  v.,  14-21. 
t  "Saint  Paul  and  Frotestautism,"  by  Matthew  Arnold. 


196         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAXITY 

scholasticism,  probably  neither  speaking  nor  writ- 
ing the  Greek  language,  he  appears  to  have  put 
his  own  exact  and  unyielding  dogmatical  concep- 
tions in  the  place  of  the  Oriental  and  symbolical 
expressions  of  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  thus 
petrifying  symbol  into  dogma  and  substituting  the 
rigid  distortion  of  death  for  the  suggestive  and 
flowing  life  of  the  original  thought. 

The  Doctrine  o£  Salvation  bf  Faith. 

Throughout  the  later  and  more  important  period 
of  its  development,  the  religion  of  the   Hebrews 
made  righteousness  the  foundation  stone  of  its 
spiritual  edifice.     The  sense  of  personal  sin,   of 
violation  of  the  law  of  God,  was  ever  present  with 
the  true  follower  of  Judaism.    Even  the  formali- 
ties of  latter-day  Pharisaism  did  not  wholly  obscure 
the  strong  ethical  principle  involved  in  the  ancient 
Hebrew  faith  and    pre-eminently  emphasized  in 
the  writings  of  the  prophets.     With  Paul,   this 
sense  of  "the  exceeding  sinfulness  of  sin,"  this 
striving  after  personal  righteousness,  was  probably 
always  present.     In  it,  doubtless,  lay  the  secret  of 
his  sudden  conversion.    In  it,  also,  lay  the  root  of 
his  Christian  theology.     As  a  Jew,  the  escape  from 
sin  and  its  penalties  had  been  possible  to  him  only 
through  strict  and  rigid  obedience  to  tLo  law.    As 
a  Christian,  emancipated  from  the  law,  he  found 
the  means  of  escape  in  the  acceptance  of  the  doc- 
trine of  "salvation  by  faith."  * 

Sin,  to  Paul,  was  something  more  than  the  nega- 
tion of  good,  a  mere  phase  of  moral  experience- 
*See  Rom.  iv.-viii. ;  GaJ.  ii.-vi.,  etc. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL  197 

it  waa  an  objective  reality.    It  was  an  actual  entity 
which  obtained  a  lodgement  in  man,  and  controlled 
his  actions  in  antagonism  to  all  that  was  right,— in 
antagonism,  even,  to  his  own  will.   "Now,  then,"  he 
says,  "it  is  no  more  I  that  do  it,  but  sin  (dfiaprla) 
that  dwelleth  in  me."*      Paul  had    assimilated 
from  the  Oriental  philosophies  that  doctrine  of  the 
eternal  antagonism  between  matter  and  God,  be- 
tween body  and  spirit,  which  is  still  more  clearly 
expressed  in  the  mystical  dualism  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  and  reached  its  highest  contemporaneous 
development  in  the  doctrines  of  the  various  Gnostic 
sects.    With  this  Oriental  dualism,  he  had  com- 
bined the  Hebrew  notion  of  the  inheritance  of  sin 
from  the  original  transgression  of  Adam.     He  had 
also  derived  from  the  Eastern  or  Greek  philoso- 
phies the  metaphysical  conception    of  the  three- 
fold nature  of  man,  comprising  body,  soul,  and 
spirit.f     He  entified  or  objectified  these  metaphysi- 
cal conceptions,  and  they  became  to  him  realities. 

The  Ethics  of  Paul :  His  Doctrine  of  the 
Cracifixion. 

The  ethics  of  the  Gospels  were  purely  ideal  and 
persona],  adapted  to  the  perfect  society  of  the  ideal 
kingdom  of  heaven,  aiming  to  prepare  individuals 
for  it  by  the  closest  possible  approximation  to  its 
conditions  under  the  existing  social  order.  The 
associations  of  Jesus  were  limited  and  personal, 
and  his  ethical  system  bore  the  impress  of  these 
environing  limitations.  The  associations  of  Paul, 
on  the  contrary,   were  varied   and  cosmopolitan. 

*Rom.  vii.,  17. 
1 1.  Cor.  XV.,  35-54,  especially  verses  40, 44, 45. 


19S        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

His  ethics,  therefore,  were  naturally  social  and  or- 
ganic, less  personal  and  ideal  than  those  of  Jesus, 
and  adapted  to  the  existing  relations  of  a  more 
varied  and  complex  society.  Nevertheless,  his 
appeal  to  men,  though  on  a  less  ideal  plane,  was 
essentially  direct  and  personal,  based  as  it  was 
upon  his  own  strong  conviction  of  sin.  He  did 
not  speak  to  men  as  one  above  them,  but  as  one 
of  them.  His  conception  of  Jesus  was  to  him,  and 
through  him  to  others,  an  inspiration  to  right  living, 
chiefly  because  he  saw  in  the  Master  "a  man  tempted 
in  all  respects  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin." 

Paul's  doctrine  of  "salvation  by  faith,"  accord- 
ingly, was  no  hard  and  fast  dogma,  as  inter- 
preted by  the  preachers  of  the  orthodox  creed.  He 
preached  "Christ  and  him  crucified,"  indeed,  as 
the  foundation  of  his  faith ;  but,  when  he  says, 
"I  am  crucified  with  Christ,  nevertheless  I  live; 
and  the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  flesh  I  live 
by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave 
himself  for  me,"*  we  perceive  that  he  regarded 
the  crucifixion  as  somewhat  more  than  a  personal 
and  objective  fact, — as  a  symbol,  rather,  of  a  sub- 
jective experience  of  Jesus  which  might  be  re- 
peated in  every  human  soul.  Christ,  in  his  con- 
ception, as  Matthew  Arnold  has  so  ably  shown, 
was  already  "crucified  in  the  flesh"  before  the  final 
agony  of  Calvary :  he  was  crucified  in  the  process 
of  putting  under  foot  the  temptations  of  the  flesh, 
— those  tendencies  to  sin  with  which  he  was  beset, 
in  common  with  all  other  men,  but  which  he, 
unlike  all  other  men,  had  successfully  overcome. 

•Gal.  ii.,20. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY  OF   PAUL  199 

The  "faith"  advocated  by  Paul,  therefore,  was 
no  mere  acceptance  of  irrational  dogma,  but  the 
surety  that  by  a  like  process  of  subjecting  the 
body  to  the  spirit,  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  to  the 
demands  of  an  ideal  righteousness,  all  men,  like 
him,  could  be  "crucified  with  Christ,"  and  yet  live 
the  higher  and  nobler  life  of  the  spiritual  man. 
His  conception  of  spirituality  is  no  mere  product 
of  a  sublimated  mysticism :  it  is  rooted  firmly  in 
the  ethical  principle.  It  is  in  this  sense  of  spirit- 
ual unity  with  Christ  through  triumph  over  sin 
that  he  exultingly  exclaims,  "The  Spirit  itself 
beareth  witness  with  our  spirit  that  we  are  the 
children  of  God,  and,  if  children,  then  heirs, — 
heirs  of  God  and  joint  heirs  with  Christ, — that,  if 
we  suffer  with  him,  we  may  also  be  glorified 
together."* 

Paal*s  Daalism. —  Predestination  and  £Iection« — 
The  Secret  of  Jeans. 

There  is  much  in  Paul's  phraseology,  doubtless, 
that  gives  comfort  to  the  devotees  of  modern 
Orthodoxy.  The  philosophical  statement  of  the 
Calvinistic  doctrine  of  predestination  and  election 
is  certainly  there,  f  The  dualistic  conception  of 
the  eternal  conflict  between  the  flesh  and  the 
spirit,  the  antagonism  of  God  and  matter,  an- 
nounced by  Paul,  is  not  consistent  with  a  pro- 
found philosophy  of  the  universe,  or  even  with 
an  intelligent  theism.     The  God  of  Paul  is  less 

•Romans  viii.,  16, 17. 
t  Romans  viii.,  29,  30;  xi.,  5-7;  II.  Cor.  xiii.,  5,  6;  Col.  ill., 
12;  I.  Thess.  v.,  9 ;  II.  Tlie^a.  ii.,  10-12.    The  tirst  chapter  of 
Ephesians,  doubtfully  Pauline,  contains  a  yet  clearer  state- 
ment of  this  doctrine. 


200        A   STUDY  OP   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

fatherly  and  more  despotic  than  the  heavenly 
Father  of  Jesus.  In  other  respects,  however,  he 
approximated  closely  to  the  thought  of  the  Naza- 
rene  prophet.  The  "dead  works"  which  he  dis- 
credited were  not  alone  or  chiefly  the  natural  fruits 
of  righteous  endeavor,  but  rather  the  formal 
observances  of  the  ceremonial  law.*  The  "faith" 
that  he  advocated  was  faith  that  the  experience 
and  triumph  of  Jesus  were  possible,  in  some 
degree,  to  all  men ;  that  any  man,  Jew  or  Gentile, 
bond  or  free,  by  being  crucified  with  Jesus,  by 
subjecting  the  selfish  and  animal  impulses  of  his 
nature  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  demands  of  the 
higher  law,  as  Jesus  had  done,  would  be  raised 
with  him  into  the  higher  life  of  the  spirit.  In  this 
belief,  which  based  salvation  upon  inner  motive 
rather  than  outer  act,  consciously  or  unconsciously 
he  caught  the  very  secret  of  Jesus,  and  justified 
his  claim  to  the  title  of  an  apostle. 

Paul  the  tjpe   of   Protestautism. — His  Belation 
to  Existing  Society. 

If  in  our  present  study  we  have  not  discovered 
the  Paul  of  the  Puritan  theology,  neither,  I  think, 
have  we  found  precisely  the  Paul  of  Matthew  Ar- 
nold. If  the  Christ  of  Paul  is  seen  to  be  an  ideal 
Christ  rather  than  the  man  of  Nazareth,  so  in  lesser 
degree,  perhaps,  the  Paul  of  Matthew  Arnold  is 
an  idealized  Paul.  If  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles 
clothes  his  philosophy  in  Orientalisms,  as  the  great 
critic  declares,  the  philosophy  is  nevertheless  there 
beneath  the  garment,  and  in  it  the  germs  of  much 

*  Romans  iii.,  20, 27, 28,  etc. 


THE   CHRISTIANITY   OF   PAUL  201 

that  is  harsh  and  irrational  in  the  later  Christian 
creeds.  As  he  stands  revealed  to  the  rational 
investigator,  Paul  is,  I  think,  Mr.  Arnold  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding,  the  natural  prototype 
and  apostle  of  Protestantism,  even  of  dissenting 
Protestantism.  The  great  apostle  would  have  been 
quite  out  of  place  in  the  fold  of  a  conventional 
body  of  believers  like  the  modern  Church  of  Eng- 
land. He  protested  against  the  close  communion 
and  legal  literalism  of  the  Judaizing  Christians. 
He  protested  against  the  formal  and  external 
righteousness  of  the  ceremonial  law.  His  protests 
were  always  "vigorous,"  if  not  "rigorous";  and 
division  and  sectarianism  followed  in  their  wake, 
as  they  have  followed  the  later  protests  of  Luther 
and  Calvin. 

In  the  Christianity  of  Paul,  the  primitive  social 
communism  of  the  Gospels  was  already  somewhat 
modified.*  We  hear  less  of  a  community  of  goods, 
less  of  the  exaltation  of  poverty.  With  a  wider 
social  horizon,  a  less  ideal  and  more  practical 
ethical  system  than  that  of  Jesus,  Paul  rendered 
himself  liable  to  a  more  exacting  and  less  favor- 
able criticism  by  the  exigent  social  standards  of  a 
later  time  and  a  higher  civilization.  Like  Jesus, 
he  uttered  no  word  against  the  existing  institution 
of  slavery.  He  even  recognized  its  legality  and 
binding  force  by  returning  to  Philemon  the  slave 
Onesimus,  though  with  the  qualifying  injunction 
to  receive  him  as  a  brother  in  Christ  as  well  as  a 

•There  is  a  suggestion  of  it  in  II.  Cor.  viii.,  10-15,  and  in 
the  references  to  the  agape,  or  "love-feast,"  the  primi- 
tive communal  meal  of  the  early  Christians  (I.  Cor.  xi., 
17-34,  etc.). 


202        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

legal  bond-servant.*  His  views  of  marriage  and 
of  woman  were  ignoble  and  unsocial,  bearing  the 
degrading  impress  of  the  Orientalism  which  gave 
them  birth,  and  which  tinged  all  his  philosophy.f 
The  pessimistic  conception  of  the  existing  world, 
implicit  in  the  thought  of  Jesus,  was  explicit  in 
the  dualistic  philosophy  of  Paul.  Yet,  with  all  his 
faults  and  imperfections,  Paul  as  well  as  Jesus  was 
a  man  of  men. 

Under  the  influence  of  the  great  apostle  and  his 
co-laborers,  Christianity  burst  the  bonds  of  nation- 
ality and  race,  and  became  a  movement  which 
aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  spiritual  conquest 
of  the  world.  The  religion  of  Jesus,  as  taught  by 
Paul,  still  contained  within  it  an  emphasis  and 
purpose  supremely  ethical.  It  retained  the  doc- 
trine that  man  is  to  be  judged  by  motive  rather 
than  by  act,  by  inward  intention  rather  than 
outward  and  formal  observances.  In  this  concep- 
tion was  latent  the  inevitable  and  logical  sequence 
of  a  bslief  in  human  equality,  ultimating  in  the 
reorganization  of  society  under  the  form  of  a 
spiritual  democracy;  and  in  the  promise  of  this 
social  revolution  lay  the  secret  of  the  eager  accept- 
ance of  the  new  religion  by  the  masses  of  the 
toiling  poor. 

Free  from  the  necessary  limitations  of  the  ethnic 
religions,  emancipated  from  Judaism  through  the 
influence  of  Paul,  Christianity  contained  within 
itself  some  of  the  germs  of  a  universal  religion. 
To  what  extent  these  germs  were  fertilized  by 

*  Philemon.    See  also  Col.  iii.,  22. 
1 1.  Cor.  vii.,  xl.;  Col.  iii.,  18,  etc. 


THE   CHRISTIAXITY  OF   PAUL  20-3 

contact  with  a  congenial  soil  and  atmosphere,  in 
what  manner  their  growth  was  thwarted  and  pre- 
vented by  the  assimilation  of  incongruous  elements 
from  the  surrounding  Paganism  and  by  their  own 
internal  imperfections,  it  is  our  purpose  to  consider 
hereafter. 


vni. 

THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE. 

Dnration  and  General  Characteriatica  of  the 
Period. 

The  apostolic  period  in  the  history  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  is  commonly  reckoned  to  extend  from 
the  death  of  Jesus  to  the  end  of  the  first  Christian 
century.*  During  the  early  portion  of  this  period, 
as  we  have  seen,  a  new  element  was  intro  uced 
into  the  Christian  faith,— the  element  of  univer- 
salism,  as  distinguished  from  the  narrower  Hebra- 
ism of  the  Judaizing  followers  of  Peter  and  the 
original  Galilean  apostles.  Doubtless,  this  feature 
may  be  shown  to  have  a  natural  relationship  and 
correspondence  with  much  that  had  been  latent  in 
the  thought  of  Jesus;  but,  if  the  propagation  of 
the  new  doctrine  had  been  left  entirely  with  his 
personal  followers  and  disciples,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  Christianity  would  ever  have  become 
more  than  an  insignificant  Jewish  sect,  which 
would  have  ceased  to  exist  when  the  popular 
expectation    of    the    immediate    coming    of    the 

*The  necessary  limitations  of  these  papers  will  prevent 
a  strictly  chronological  treatment  of  the  history  of  the 
early  Church.  It  will  be  our  aim,  however,  to  deviate 
from  this  method  only  when  the  requirements  of  a  concise 
topical  consideration  of  certain  branches  of  our  subject 
render  such  deviations  inevitable. 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        205 

heavenly  kingdom  had  succumbed  to  the  chill  of 
weary  waiting  and  successive  disappointments. 

The  history  of  the  growing  faith,  from  the  time 
of  Paul  to  its  final  secular  triumph  and  recogni- 
tion by  Constantine,  is  the  history  of  the  contin- 
ued conflict  and  final  reconciliation  of  its  Pauline 
and  Judaistic  elements ;  of  the  rise  of  Gnosticism 
and  the  conflict  with  this  and  other  so-called 
"heresies  " ;  *  of  the  development  of  its  Christology 
and  dogmatic  theology,  culminating  in  the  deifica- 
tion of  Jesus;  and  of  the  evolution  of  the  forms 
and  ceremonies  which  ultimately  constituted  the 
ritual  and  sacraments  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Unless  the  circumstances  and  consequences  of  the 
conflict  between  the  Hebrew  and  the  Hellenic  or 
Grentile  parties  are  kept  constantly  in  mind,  the 
student  of  this  intermediate  phase  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  new  religion  will  miss  much  of  the 
significance  of  the  leading  features  in  its  history. 
The  mediation  between  these  two  parties  was 
finally  effected  through  the  influence  of  the  Alex- 
andrian philosophy  of  Philo,  the  original  purpose 
of  which,  in  its  ante-Christian  phases,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  to  demonstrate  the  harmony  of  Platon- 
ism  and  Orientalism  with  the  Mosaic  law.f  It 
was,  therefore,  the  natural  mediator  between  these 
diverse  elements  in  Christianity.  The  documen- 
tary evidences  of  this  reconciliation  are  found  in 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  tendency  of  which  is 

*The  word  "heresy"  (Gr.  alpea;-)  had  originally  no  op- 
probrious signification,  bat  meant  simply  the  "choice" 
or  "accepted  belief"  of  an  oppos-ing  controversialist.  In 
Greek  philosophical  ■writings,  it  was  sometimes  u'^ed  to 
designate  a  philosophical  principle  or  a  particular  sect  or 
school  of  philosophy 

t  See  Lecture  II. 


206         A   STUDY   OF   PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

toward  a  modified  Paulinism,  in  the  non-Pauline 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  in  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas, 
preserved  to  us  among  the  so-called  apocryphal 
writings,  and  other  documents  of  like  character. 
The  chief  witness  on  behalf  of  Paulinism  is  the 
great  apostle  himself,  as  represented  in  his  authen- 
tic writings.  The  opposite  side  of  the  controversy 
is  presented  in  the  Epistle  of  James  and  the 
Apocalypse ;  in  the  writings  generally  of  the  early 
Fathers  of  the  Church,  and  particularly  in  the 
pseudo-Clementine  Homilies,  to  which  we  shall 
have  occasion  to  refer  hereafter.  The  final  tri- 
umph of  the  Alexandrian  mediation  is  attested  by 
the  reception  of  the  Logos  epic  as  authoritative 
scripture  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century. 

Early  Rites  and  Ceremonies:  Baptism. 

With  the  final  accomplishment  of  the  reconcil- 
iation through  the  deification  of  Jesus,  the  rites 
and  sacraments  of  the  Church,  which  had  grad- 
ually taken  form  after  the  subversion  of  the  more 
marked  Judaizing  features  of  apostolic  Christi- 
anity, were  elevated  into  greater  prominence.  It 
is  our  purpose  now  to  trace  the  natural  origin 
and  development  of  some  of  these  ceremonies. 
The  rite  of  baptism  early  came  to  be  regarded  as 
the  chief  symbol  and  sacrament  of  the  Christian 
faith,  assuming  an  importance  and  significance 
akin  to  circumcision  in  the  ordinances  of  Judaism. 
Baptism  was  probably  adopted  by  the  Jews  from 
Persian  or  Chaldean  sources,*  and  was  adminis- 

*The  name  "Sabean,"  often  applied  to  the  ancient  Per- 
Bians  and  Chaldeans,  means,  simply,  "the  immerser"  or 
"the  washer" ;  and  ceremonial  ablution  was  an  important 
rite  of  the  Zoroastrian  and  Magian  religions. 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        207 

tered  by  such  pre-Christian  sects  as  the  Essenes 
and  the  disciples  of  John.  In  its  original  Jewish 
form,  it  differed  little,  save  in  its  symbolical  sig- 
nification, from  an  ordinary  bath.  It  was  intended 
both  to  secure  bodily  cleanliness  and  to  symbolize 
at  the  same  time  the  removal  of  the  stains  of  sin 
from  the  soul.  Among  the  Jews  and  early  Chris- 
tians of  Palestine,  those  submitting  to  this  rite 
came  down  to  some  convenient  place  by  the  side 
of  the  Jordan  River,  sometimes  singly,  but  oftener 
in  families,  and  having  completely  disrobed,  as  is 
not  unfrequently  the  public  and  promiscuous  cus- 
tom in  Eastern  countries,  even  at  the  present  day, 
they  plunged  into  the  river,  and  entirely  sub- 
merged themselves  in  its  waters. 

In  its  earliest  Christian  phase,  baptism  was  only 
administered  as  a  sign  of  voluntary  repentance 
and  admission  to  the  membership  of  the  Christian 
community.  It  was  not  administered  to  children 
or  to  those  of  any  age  who  were  born  into  the  new 
faith.  With  the  decline  of  Judaistic  tendencies 
among  the  early  Christians,  however,  baptism 
came  to  be  deemed  an  essential  symbol  of  the 
Christian  religion,  and  was  therefore  thencefor- 
ward administered  to  all  adult  believers  in  con- 
nection with  a  public  profession  of  their  faith. 
The  earliest  baptismal  formula  in  use  among  the 
Palestinian  Christians  was,  "I  immerse  you  into 
the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  The  familiar  trin- 
itarian  recognition  of  the  "Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit"  did  not  come  into  use  before  the  sec- 
ond century.  The  Greek  word  (^aTrrtfw),  which 
*Jie  translators  of  the  New  Testament  have  appro- 


208        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

priated  without  translating,  means  simply  and  uni- 
formly "to  immerse."  This  was  unquestionably 
the  original  form  of  the  rite.  In  localities  where 
the  facilities  for  complete  immersion  were  want- 
ing, however,  there  seems  to  have  been  an  occa- 
sional substitution,  at  a  very  early  day,  of  the 
shower-bath, — not  a  mere  sprinkling,  as  in  later 
times,  but  the  use  of  a  sufficient  quantity  of  water 
to  envelop  the  entire  person.*  In  its  earliest 
Christian  phase,  baptism  appears  to  have  been  re- 
garded as  a  symbol  not  only  of  spiritual  purifica 
tion,  but  also  of  the  resurrection.  The  sins  of  the 
flesh  were  washed  away,  the  "carnal  body"  was 
buried  beneath  the  waters,  and  rose  from  them 
into  the  new  life  of  the  spiritual  man.  As  Chris- 
tianity assimilated  Gentile  converts,  and  advanced 
westward  to  cooler  climates,  and  especially  to 
Rome,  where  the  people  were  familiar  with  the 
ceremony  of  lustration,  the  rite  lost  more  and  more 
its  primitive  character.  At  last,  the  idea  of  physi- 
cal cleanliness  remained  wholly  in  abeyance ;  and 
it  retained  only  its  spiritual  and  symbolical  sig- 
nification. It  was  not,  however,  until  long  after 
the  Christianization  of  the  Roman  Empire  that 
"sprinkling"  was  generally  substituted  for  immer- 
sion.f 

Subsequent  to  the  early  part  of  the  second  cen- 

*  See  the  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  where  this 
form  of  the  rite  ia  expressly  authorized.  It  is  noteworthy, 
however,  ttiat  the  substitute  is  not  called  "baptism"  (im- 
mersion), but  simply  "pouring." 

t  In  a  like  manner,  the  sacrificial  rite  among  the  Zoroas- 
trians  degenerated  into  a  mere  symbolical  presentation  of 
a  single  hair  of  a  heifer  in  the  presence  of  the  sacred  flame 
instead  of  the  immolation  of  the  entire  animal.  The  East- 
ern Church  still  recognizes  immersion  as  the  proper  form 
of  the  baptismal  ceremony. 


THE   CHURCH  IN   THE   APOSTOLIC  AGE       209 

tury,  after  the  organization  of  the  Christian  con- 
gregations had  been  perfected,  and  the  three  orders 
of  deacons,  presbyters,  and  bishops  were  fully  rec- 
ognized, the  rite  of  baptism  could  be  adminis- 
tered only  by  the  bishop  or  presiding  elder  of  the 
church.  Usually  there  was  but  one  place  for  bap- 
tism in  each  town  or  city,  and  that  was  never  in 
a  church.  There  was  but  one  time  for  the  admin- 
istration of  the  rite  in  every  year, — the  period  be- 
tween Easter  and  Pentecost.  Baptism  was  always 
administered  at  midnight,  and  never  in  public.  In 
an  outer  chamber,  the  converts,  of  either  sex,  dis- 
robed to  but  a  single  garment,  and,  turning  toward 
the  region  of  the  sunset,  uttered  together  a  defi- 
ance of  the  evil  one,  saying,  "I  renounce  thee, 
Satan,  and  all  thy  works,  all  thy  pomp,  and  all  thy 
service."  They  then  turned  toward  the  east,  and 
by  the  utterance  of  an  appropriate  verbal  formula 
recognized  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
faith.  Passing  into  an  inner  chamber,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  deacon  or  deaconess,  the  entire  company 
disrobed  completely,  and  stood  up  naked  to  be 
questioned  by  the  bishop.  Satisfactory  answers 
having  been  given,  their  bare  limbs  and  bodies 
were  rubbed  with  oil  from  head  to  foot.  They 
then  plunged  into  the  water,  were  again  anointed 
after  emerging  from  it,  were  clothed  in  white 
gowns  symbolical  of  their  purification,  and  re- 
ceived the  "kiss  of  peace"  from  the  bishop  and  a 
taste  of  milk  and  honey.  They  afterwards  recog- 
nized their  new  communion  by  repeating  for  the 
first  time  the  Lord's  Prayer.* 

•For  this  account  of  the  origin  and  earliest  form  of  the 
baptismal  ceremony,  reliance  has  been  placed,  in  the  main, 


210        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

Many  of  the  leading  features  of  this  ceremonial 
were  evidently  of  Eastern  and  probably  of  Persian 
origin.  Our  modern  sticklers  for  "immersion" 
would  hardly  advocate  the  adoption  of  the  original 
custom  in  its  entirety.  With  the  lapse  of  time, 
many  changes  have  affected  the  administration  of 
this  rite.  A  magical  efficacy  came  to  be  assigned 
to  it  at  an  early  day ;  and  even  infants  were  re- 
garded as  doomed  to  eternal  misery,  if  dying  un- 
baptized.  To  forestall  this  doom,  the  rite  was 
sometimes  administered  to  them  with  most  un- 
seemly haste.  At  the  present  time,  instead  of  the 
complete  bath,  we  have  usually  the  substitute  of 
sprinkling  with  a  few  drops  of  water.  Instead  of 
anointing  the  entire  body  with  oil,  we  have  the 
application  of  a  few  drops  only,  as  in  the  Catholic 
ceremonial,  or  the  total  disuse  of  inunction,  as  in 
nearly  all  the  Protestant  sects.  Instead  of  the 
bishop  alone,  any  clergyman  may  administer  the 
rite.  Instead  of  making  adults  the  only  recipients 
of  it,  as  in  the  earliest  times,  it  is  now  usually  ad- 
ministered in  childhood.  In  regard  to  this  and 
to  other  ritualistic  observances,  however,  we  of 
the  liberal  faith  will  doubtless  agree  that  letter 
and  form  profit  little,  and  that  a  custom  which 
has  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  magical  rite  rather 
than  a  natural  symbol  of  spiritual  purification  is 
better  honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observ- 
ance. 

Religions  Services:  The  I^ord's  Day. 

The    earliest    Christian    congregations  had  no 

upon  the  interesting  testimony  of  Dean  Stanley  in  Chris- 
tian Institutions.  Care  has  been  taken,  however,  to  make 
comparison  with  ol"aer  reliable  authorities. 


THE   CHURCH   IX   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE       211 

church-buildings  or  houses  devoted  exclusively  to 
religious  assemblies.    Meetings  for  worship  were 
commonly  held  in   private  dwellings.     The  usual 
and  most  convenient  room  for  the  assembly  was 
the  triclinium,  or  large  dining-hall,  found  in  nearly 
every  house  of  the  Roman  period.     Around  this 
room  were  arranged  cushions  or  low  divans,  upon 
which  the  worshippers  sat  or  reclined  durmg  the 
reading  of  the  Scriptures-the  Old  Testament  only 
—and    the    formal    address   or    exhortation.      A 
raised  seat  at  one  end  of  the  room,  the  cathedra, 
or  chair,  was  occupied  by  the  reader  or  minister. 
The  custom  of  meeting  on  the  "Lord's  day,"  or 
first  day  of  the  week,  for  religious  services  and 
social  converse,   is   of   early  origin,   dating  from 
the   apostolic  period.     At  this  time,  however,  the 
day  had  acquired  none  of   the  peculiar  sanctity 
attaching  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  was  never, 
as    in    later    times,    confounded    with    it.      The 
seventh   day  was  still  observed,  according  to  the 
mandates  of  the  law,  by  the  Jewish  Christians. 
The  earliest  Christian  writers  outside  the  limited 
circle  of    the  Nazarenes,   who    compare  the  two 
days,  regard  the  Lord's  day,  not  as  a  continuance 
of  the  Sabbath,  but  as  an  institution  of  an  essen- 
tially different  character.     Christianity,  according 
to  their  view,  abrogated  the  Hebrew  command- 
ments.    Owing  to  its  principle   of  universalism, 
it  regarded  all  places  as  alike  sacred  and  all  days 
as  alike  holy  and  dedicated  to  the  service  of  God. 
Ignatius  of    Antioch  contrasted  the  Lord's    day 
with  the  Sabbath  as  something  done  away  with. 
Justin  Martvr  says  that  Christianity  requires,  not 


212        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

one  particular  Sabbath,  but  a  perpetual  Sabbath. 
The  Christians  were  regarded  as  atheists  by  their 
enemies,  because  they  had  no  temples,  no  images, 
no  altars,  no  festivals,  no  holy  days.  The  nature 
of  their  baptismal  ceremony  and  the  privacy  of 
their  meetings  threw  an  air  of  secrecy  and  con- 
cealment around  their  religion,  which  caused  it  to 
be  viewed  with  distrust  and  suspicion  by  intelli- 
gent adherents  of  the  older  faiths. 

Tlie  AgapC)  or  «Liore  Feast," — Foreruuuer  of 
the  RachariAt. 

In  the  same  room,  the  triclinium,  after  sunset, 
the  congregation  again  gathered,  reclining  as 
before  around  the  sides  of  the  room,  to  partake  of 
the  agape,  or  "love  feast."*  This  prototype  of 
the  sacrament  of  the  eucharistf  was  originally 
merely  a  commemorative  social  meal  of  a  com- 
munal character,  to  which  each  contributed  a  por- 
tion of  food  as  to  a  picnic.  Bread  and  wine  were 
essential  elements  in  this  pleasant  social  repast; 
but  other  articles  of  food,  particularly  fish,  which 
accompanied  bread  in  the  ancient  meal  as  com- 
monly as  cheese  or  butter  does  with  us,  were  usu- 
ally present.  The  poor,  who  were  unable  to  con- 
tribute to  the  repast,  were  always  welcome  to 
partake  with  the  others.  This  common  meal  was 
doubtless  a  survival  of  the  simple  communism  of 
Jesus  and  the  apostles.  In  the  "paschal  feast" 
or  "last  supper"  of  the  Master  with  his  disciples, 
which  this  repast  was  intended  to  commemorate, 
the  wine  was  doubtless  served  in  large  bowls,  and 

•Gr.  hydTTT).  tGr.  cvxapiorla-,  "thanksgiving." 


THE   CHUKCH   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        213 

mixed  with  water,  as  was  the  universal  custom  of 
the  time.  The  bread  was  the  unleavened  bread 
of  the  passover,  and  fish  and  perhaps  other  simple 
articles  of  food  were  doubtless  present. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  "love  feast"  as  well  as 
at  the  breaking  up  of  the  earlier  meetings,  the 
company  parted,  exchanging  the  "kiss  of  peace." 
In  some  congregations,  this  interchange  of  saluta- 
tions was  confined  to  those  of  the  same  sex;  in 
others,    no  distinction  was   observed.     We    have 
numerous  evidences  in  the  New  Testament  Epis- 
tles and  writings  of  the  Fathers  that  these  social 
repasts,  at  first  held  daily,  not  unf  requently  became 
scenes  of  boisterous  revelry    and   undue  license.* 
These  abuses  brought  upon  the  churches  the  con- 
demnation of  the  apostles,  and  doubtless  operated 
to  lessen  the  frequency  of  the  communal   meals, 
which  ultimately  degenerated  into   the   monthly 
celebration  of  the  eucharist.      With  the  common 
acceptance  of  the  conception  of    Christ    as    the 
paschal  lamb,— the    sacrifice   substituted   for  the 
offering  of    the    Jewish    passover,— a  conception 
which,  though  suggested   by   Paul,  we  first  find 
fully  developed  in  the   Fourth   Gospel,  the  com- 
memorative repast  took  on  a  new  and  more  solemn 
character.     From    the    Oriental  and    symbolical 
expressions  of  Jesus,— "This  is  my  body,"  "This 
is  my  blood,"— the  bald  literalism  of  the  scholastic 
theologians  subsequently    developed  the    dogmas 
of  transubstantiation  and  consubstantiation,  giv- 
ing rise  to  that  notable  metaphysical  controversy 
which  in  after  generations  distracted  and  divided 

*I.  Cor.  xi.,  20-34. 


214         A    STUDY    OF    PRIMITIVii,    CHRISTIANITY 

the  Christian  Church.  As  in  the  case  of  baptism, 
we  have  in  the  modern  ceremony  of  the  commun- 
ion an  instance  of  degeneration,  transfiguration, 
and  survival,  accompanied  by  the  assumption  of 
a  magical  efficacy  as  pertaining  to  the  rite,  which 
leaves  it  with  but  little  resemblance  either  in 
form  or  idea  to  the  primitive  custom  of  the  apos- 
tolic age. 

Origin  of  the  Priesthood:  Clerical  Orders. 

"In  the  first  beginning  of  Christianity,"  says 
Dean  Stanley,  "there  was  no  such  institution  as 
the  clergy."  The  earliest  Christian  communities 
were  not  organized  with  any  view  to  permanence. 
Believing  in  the  near  approach  of  the  revolution 
which  would  substitute  a  new  and  divine  social 
order  for  that  then  existing,  the  converts  came 
together  naturally  for  mutual  sympathy  and  en- 
couragement, with  few  of  the  formalities  of  an 
established  religious  organization.  The  ecclesia,* 
or  church,  was  thus  in  its  earliest  form  merely  a 
communal  assembly  of  believers.  Such  was  the 
essential  character  of  the  apostolic  community  at 
Jerusalem,  and  of  the  earliest  churches  founded 
by  Paul  and  his  co-laborers.  Their  simple  relig- 
ious ceremonies  were  probably  patterned  upon 
those  of  the  Jewish  synagogue,  but  were  originally 
less  formal  and  elaborate  than  the  synagogue 
services. 

In  these  primitive  assemblies,  the  apostles  and 
immediate  followers  of  Jesus  at  first  had  a  certain 

*Gr.  EKulTiala,  "the  called,"  "the  elect."  In  Athens, 
this  term  was  applied  to  an  assembly  of  citizens  or  free- 
men, summoned  by  the  crier,  for  consultation  upon  mat- 
ters of  public  import. 


THE   CHURCH    IN    THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE       215 

natural  pre-eminence.  As  time  passed,  and  the 
need  for  a  complete  organization  became  impera- 
tive, the  older  members  of  the  various  communi- 
ties came  to  be  looked  up  to  for  counsel  and  in- 
struction. Each  congregation  finally  had  its  coun- 
cil of  presbyters*  or  elders,  and  these  in  turn 
chose  one  of  their  number  as  a  presiding  officer. 
In  the  earliest  writings  of  the  Fathers,  the  terms 
rptafivTepoq,  "elder,"  and  k-iamTzoq^f  "bishop," 
were  used  interchangeably,  and  indicated  no  divi- 
sion of  offices  or  functions.  The  term  SiaKovog, 
or  deacon,  X  was  also  used  originally  in  precisely 
the  same  manner  as  were  "elder"  and  "bishop." 
As  found  in  the  New  Testament  and  earliest  writ- 
ings of  the  Fathers,  these  terms  nowhere  denote 
the  division  of  the  clergy  into  distinct  orders,  as 
in  later  times.  Nothing  like  the  modern  episco- 
pacy existed  before  the  second  century. 

"The  deacons,"  says  Dean  Stanley,  "were  the 
most  original  of  these  institutions,  being  invented, 
as  it  were,  for  the  special  emergency  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem.  The  presbyters  were  the  'sheikhs' 
or  elders, — those  who  by  seniority  had  reached 
the  first  rank, — as  in  the  Jewish  synagogue.  The 
bishops  were  the  same,  viewed  under  another  as- 
pect,— the  'inspectors,'  the  'auditors,'  of  the 
Greek  churches."  §     The  church    organization   is 

•Gr.  irpEffPiiTEpoQ,  "elder." 

t  Literally,  an  overseer  or  watcher. 

{Literally,  a  servant:  from  6ia  and  kSvic,  one  who  ia 
dusty  from  running,  or  one  who  has  to  do  with  dust  and 
dirt. 

^Christian  Institutions,— by  Arthur  Penrhyn  Stanley, 
Dean  of  Westminster,— which  see  for  an  Interesting  ac- 
count of  the  development  of  ecclesiastical  ceremonies  and 
eacraments. 


216         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

thus  seen  to  have  been  in  its  inception  purely 
"congregational,"  or  democratic,  recognizing  no 
pretended  authority  of  a  priestly  or  magical  char- 
acter, such  as  is  involved  in  the  dogma  of  the 
apostolic  succession.  Early  in  the  second  century, 
the  kmaiiOTzog,  or  bishop,  was  elevated  above  the 
elders  and  deacons,  and  concentrated  many  of 
their  former  functions  into  his  own  office  and  per- 
son, "He  alone  could  baptize,  consecrate,  confirm, 
ordain,  marry,  preach,  absolve."*  There  thus 
happened  in  the  Christian  communities  what 
would  occur  in  a  club  or  society  which  should 
hand  over  the  entire  management  of  its  affairs  to 
a  committee,  which  in  turn  should  abdicate  in 
favor  of  its  chairman,  so  that  he  could  say,  "I,  in 
my  own  person,  am  the  association." 

Before  the  conversion  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons  were  chosen  by 
a  show  of  hands  by  the  entire  congregation.  This, 
however,  was  largely  a  formality, — a  survival  of 
the  primitive  democracy  of  the  earliest  communi- 
ties, the  choice  having  previously  been  agreed 
upon  by  the  council  of  elders.  The  entire  pro- 
ceeding was  not  unlike  that  of  a  ward  caucus  or 
political  convention  in  our  American  cities.  After 
being  thus  chosen,  the  bishops  were  ordained, 
either  by  the  ceremony  of  breathing,  which  sym- 
bolized the  transmission  of  the  nvev/xa,  or  Holy 
Spirit,  as  in  the  African  churches;  or  by  lifting 
up  the  hands  in  the  Oriental  form  of  benediction, 
as  in  the  Eastern  or  Asiatic  churches;  or  by 
touching  the  dead  hand  of  the  predecessor  in  office, 

*  Christian  Institutions. 


THE    CHURCH    IN    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE        217 

as  in  the  Armenian  church ;  or  by  the  transmis- 
sion of  relics  or  the  staff  of  office,  as  in  the  early 
Keltic  churches;  or  by  the  imposition  of  hands, 
as  in  the  Roman  and  later  Protestant  churches  of 
the  West.  All  these  practices  imply  the  survival 
of  superstitions  and  fetichistic  notions  which  orig- 
inated in  the  primitive  barbarism  and  ignorance 
of  prehistoric  times. 

Groivth  of  the  Hierarchy.    Importations  from 
Paganism. 

The  limits  of  this  discussion  will  not  permit  us 
to  trace  in  detail  the  subsequent  development  and 
later  modifications  of  the  Christian  hierarchy. 
With  the  establishment  and  temporal  recognition 
of  the  Catholic  Church  came  the  fiction  of  apos- 
tolic succession,  and  the  ultimate  transfer  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  of  the  title  and  paraphernalia 
of  the  emperor  as  Pontifex  Maximus.  The  occa- 
sion of  the  papal  establishment  in  the  West  was 
the  retirement  of  the  emperors  to  Constantinople, 
which  ultimately  involved  the  division  of  the 
Empire  and  the  practical  abdication  on  the  part 
of  the  emperors  of  their  assumed  pontifical  au- 
thority over  the  Roman  Church.  In  the  East, 
the  powers  which  inhered  in  the  emperor  as  Ponti- 
fex Maximus  were  transmitted  to  the  imperial 
house  of  Russia,  whose  Czar,  or  Ccesar,  is  still  the 
recognized  head  of  the  Oriental  Church. 

Many  of  the  forms  and  paraphernalia  of  the 
Church  are  inheritances  from  the  cultus  and  State 
ceremonials  of  pagan  Rome.  The  cathedral,  or 
church  of  the  bishop,  derives  its  name  from  the 
cathedra,  or  simple  chair,  at  the  bead  of  the  tricli- 


218        A   STUDY   OF   PUIMITIVE   CHUISTIANITY 

nium,  or  Romau  dining-hall,  where  the  presiding 
elders  of  the  earliest  congregations  were  seated. 
The  sella  gestatoria,  iu  which  the  pope  is  borne 
aloft  in  religious  processions,  is  the  ancient  palan- 
quin of  Roman  nobles  and  princes.  The  red 
slippers  which  he  wears  are  the  cainpagines,  or  red 
shoes,  of  the  emperor.  ''The  kiss,"  says  Dean 
Stanley,  "which  the  faithful  impress  upon  those 
shoes  is  the  descendant  of  the  kiss  first  imprinted 
upon  the  foot  of  the  Emperor  Caligula,  who 
imported  it  from  Persia.  The  fans  which  go 
before  him  are  the  punkahs  of  the  Eastern  empe- 
rors, borrowed  from  Persia."*  Christianity  and 
heathendom  are  brought  into  startling  and  signifi- 
cant proximity  in  these  inherited  customs.  On  one 
side  of  the  mate  to  the  obelisk  now  standing  iu  our 
Central  Park — which  eighteen  hundred  years  ago 
was  transported  from  Egypt  to  the  Monte  Citoiij 
in  Rome — is  its  original  dedication  by  the  Pond/ex 
Maximus,  Augustus  Caesar,  to  the  sun ;  on  the  other, 
its  re-dedication  by  the  Pontifex  Maximus,  Pius  VI., 
to  Christ, — faithful  type  and  symbol  of  the  Church, 
in  whose  ritual  and  creed  are  mingled  the  inherited 
customs  and  traditions  of  the  Aryan  and  the  Sem- 
ite, of  pagan  Rome  and  the  simple  ethical  monothe- 
ism of  Judea.  Error  and  truth  are  both  so  firmly 
graven  upon  the  ecclesiastical  superstructure  that 
they  together  testify  to  its  natural  growth  out  of 
the  mind  and  heart  of  man. 

"  Christian  Institutions.  I  have  found  Dean  Stanley  to 
be  the  most  unbiassed  and  independent  historian  of  the 
earlj^  Church,  and  am  mainly  indebted  to  him  for  the  facts 
herein  presented,  though  care  has  been  taken  to  substan- 
tiate his  statements  by  comoariaon  with  other  writers  on 
Church  history  and  with  primitive  documents  now  extant. 


THE   CHURCH   IX   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        219 

Conflict  wiih  Orientalism:   The  (iinostic  Sects. 

The  first  Christian  century  covers  the  period  in 
Roman  history  from  the  time  of  Augustus  to  that 
of  Trajan,  including  the  reigns  of  Tiberius,  Ca- 
ligula, Claudius,  Nero,  Galba,  Otho,  Vitellius, 
Vespasian,  Titus,  Domitian,  and  Nerva.  Many 
of  these  reigns  were  of  short  duration,  and  the 
contact  of  the  early  emperors  with  infant  Chris- 
tianity was  slight  and  unimportant.  This  period, 
however,  was  a  notable  one  in  the  history  of  the 
growing  faith.  At  this  time,  the  conflict  began 
between  those  tendencies  and  doctrines  which 
subsequently  became  recognized  as  authentically 
representative  of  orthodox  Christianity  and  cer- 
tain opposing  ideas  and  tendencies,  mainly  of 
Oriental  origin,  which  threatened  at  one  time  to 
turn  the  thought  and  life  of  Christendom  into 
other  and  entirely  different  channels.  The  chief 
of  these  conflicting  tendencies  was  that  known  as 
Gnosticism.  "Gnosticism,"  says  Prof.  Allen,  "is 
a  genuine  and  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  same 
general  movement  of  thought  which  shaped  the 
Christian  dogma."*  The  school  of  Marcion,  and, 
less  evidently,  the  other  Gnostic  sects,  bore  a 
direct  relationship  to  that  form  of  Hellenized 
Christianity  which  arose  from  the  thought  and 
instruction  of  Paul.  Gnosticism  was  an  honest 
attempt,  by  professing  Christians,  to  solve  the 
problem  of  the  universe  in  accordance  with  an 
intellectual  system,  the  materials  of  which  it  drew 

*  Christian  History.  By  Joseph  Henry  Allen.  For  an 
account  of  Gnosticism,  see  also  Baur,  History  of  the 
Church  in  the  First  Three  Christian  Centuries;  Milman, 
History  of  Christianity  etc. 


220         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

mainly  from  the  dualistic  Orientalism  of  Persia, 
and  to  a  lesser  degree,  perhaps,  from  the  philoso- 
phies of  India  and  Egypt.  It  is  not  our  purpose 
to  present  here  any  detailed  account  of  the  various 
Gnostic  sects.  A  brief  description  of  the  general 
principles  upon  which  their  philosophy  was 
founded  is,  however,  necessary  to  a  correct  under- 
standing of  the  attitude  of  primitive  Christianity 
toward  the  Eastern  philosophical  systems  and  of 
the  natural  development  of  Christian  dogma. 

The  complete  dualistic  separation  of  God — the 
Supreme  Light  and  only  perfect  being — from  the 
material  universe  was  assumed  as  the  philosophi- 
cal basis  of  the  Gnostic  systems.  To  span  this 
apparently  impassable  gulf  and  account  for  the 
creation  of  the  world  and  the  orderly  government 
of  the  universe,  the  Gnostics  had  recourse  to  the 
Oriental  theory  of  creation  by  emanation.  From 
the  Supreme  Mind  emanated  a  series  of  -3)ons,  or 
"Eternals,"  the  highest  order  of  which  proceeded 
directly  from  Deity  himself;  while  the  inferior 
orders  were  related  logically  and  genetically  to  man 
and  the  material  universe.  These  ^ons  were  con- 
ceived as  male  and  female,  united  in  marriage,  and 
thus  transmitting  by  generation  the  creative  force 
from  God  to  matter  and  to  man.  In  the  system  of 
Valentinus,  Depth,  or  the  Abyss,  and  Silence,  or 
Thought,  begat  Nous,  or  Mind,  and  Alethea,  or 
Truth.  These  in  turn  begat  Logos,  or  Reason,  and 
Zoe,  or  Life;  and  these  gave  birth  to  Man  and 
Ecclesia,  the  Church  or  Ideal  Society.  The  world 
in  its  present  state,  they  argued,  must  have  had  a 
beginning.    Time  and  circumstance  must  have  had 


THE   CHUROn   IX   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        221 

a  beginning  also.  Before  them  existed  only  the 
Infinite, — not  indeed  an  infinite  void,  but  an  in- 
finite Pleroma,  or  fulness,  represented  by  the  ^ons. 
Man,  by  reason  of  his  alliance  with  matter,  was 
fallen  from  the  high  estate  of  a  spiritual  being. 
The  Gnostic  conception  of  the  fall  of  man  was, 
therefore,  not  ethical,  but  philosophical  or  meta- 
physical. Mind  was  degraded  by  contact  with 
matter ;  and  salvation,  through  the  influence  of  the 
^on,  Christ,  was  regarded  as  the  means  of  dissolv- 
ing this  temporary  copartnership,  of  liberating 
the  pure  mind  from  its  material  associations. 

Gnosticism,  in  its  leading  schools,  was  the  com- 
plete antithesis  of  Judaism;  and  Yahweh,  the  God 
of  the  Jews,  even  became  the  Gnostic  demiourgos, 
the  creator  and  ruler  of  the  evil  material  uni- 
verse, the  antagonist  of  the  Supreme  Mind,  the 
true  and  only  Deity.  The  man  Jesus  was  wholly 
absorbed  in  the  ideal  Christ :  his  bodily  appear- 
ance was  a  mere  phantom;  and  the  Christ,  no 
longer  regarded  as  a  person,  was  represented  as  a 
universal  cosmic  principle  rather  than  a  principle 
of  moral  regeneration.  Many  of  the  Gnostic 
teachers  were  undoubtedly  the  intellectual  supe- 
riors of  their  orthodox  opponents,  but  in  the 
character  of  their  strength  lay  also  the  source  and 
explanation  of  their  weakness.  The  final  down- 
fall of  Gnosticism  as  a  part  of  the  Christian 
system  was  a  logical  necessity.  It  broke  the 
historical  continuity  of  Christian  development  in 
separating  itself  entirely  from  Judaism,  and  sev- 
ered also  the  logical  continuity  in  subordinating 
the  ethical  element,  supreme  in  the  teaching  of 


222        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Jesus,  to  a  mystical  and  metaphysical  philosophy 
which  was  foreign  to  his  thought.  In  the  second 
century,  we  find  orthodox  Christianity  crystalliz- 
ing its  primitive  dogmatic  tendencies  free  from 
the  metaphysical  philosophy  of  Gnosticism,  and 
"equally  removed,"  says  Dean  Milman,  "from  its 
unmingled  and  unsullied  original,  the  Judaeo- 
Christianity  of  Palestine,  of  which  the  Ebionites 
appear  to  have  been  the  last  representatives."  * 

Jndseo-Christianitj:  The  Ebionites. 

We  have  already  had  occasion  to  speak  of  the 
Ebionites  as  the  recipients  of  the  earliest  Judseo- 
Christian  tradition.  We  would  err  greatly,  how- 
ever, if  we  were  to  suppose  that  they  adhered 
strictly  to  all  the  forms  of  ancient  Judaism,  or 
maintained  its  doctrine  unalloyed  and  uncon- 
taminated.  Pharisaic  Judaism  and,  still  more, 
such  sects  as  the  Essenes  had  already  assimilated 
much  from  Oriental  sources ;  and  Jewish  Chris- 
tianity resembled  these  later  sects  much  more 
closely  than  the  primitive  faith  of  the  Hebrews. 
From  Oriental  sources  had  come  the  later  Mes- 
sianic doctrines  and  the  current  milleuarianism  of 
the  time, — the  rite  of  baptism,  and  probably  what- 
ever is  most  noteworthy  in  the  ascetic  tendencies 
which  some  of  the  Jewish  sects  exhibited  in  com- 
mon with  many  of  the  followers  of  Jesus.  The 
Persian  dualism  had  entered  deeply  into  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Nazarenes  and  Ebionitic  Christians. 
They  regarded  the  present  world  as  the  kingdom 
of   Satan, — as  wholly  corrupt  and  given  over  to 

•  History  of  Christianity. 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        223 

the  powers  of  evil.  Out  of  this  conception  grew 
their  characteristic  doctrine  of  the  blessedness  of 
poverty.  Those  who  enjoyed  the  wealth  and 
luxuries  of  the  present  world,  it  was  believed, 
would  be  deprived  thereof  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
future. 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  the 
Christian  Church  of  the  apostles  removed  in  a 
body  to  the  Batanea,  near  the  Jordan  River,  where 
they  continued  their  organization,  and  numbered 
among  themselves  the  descendants  of  the  family 
of  Jesus.  It  is  related  that,  during  the  reign  of 
Domitian,  the  emperor,  being  informed  of  the 
existence  of  a  family  descended  from  the  ancient 
Hebrew  kings, — according  to  the  then  established 
tradition  of  the  royal  lineage  of  Jesus, — ordered 
them  to  be  brought  before  him ;  but,  on  beholding 
their  hands  hardened  with  toil  and  their  general 
appearance  of  poverty,  he  ceased  to  regard  them 
as  possible  rivals,  or  insurrectionists  against  his 
authority,  and  permitted  them  to  return  unmo- 
lested to  their  homes. 

The  Ebionites,  like  the  Essenes,  were  very  ab- 
stemious in  their  habits,  living,  according  to  Epi- 
phanius,  entirely  on  a  vegetarian  diet.  Clement 
of  Alexandria  confirms  this  tradition,  and  de- 
clares that  the  Apostle  Matthew  and  James,  the 
brother  of  Jesus,  ate  no  meat.  The  Ebionites 
practised  circumcision,  and  kept  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  the  feasts  of  the  new  moon,  and  the 
passover.  They  celebrated  the  eucharist  with 
unleavened  bread,  and  with  water  instead  of 
wine.      They  attached    great  importance  to  the 


224         A   STUDY   OP   PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

doctrine  of  angels,  which  the  Jews  had  derived 
from  the  Persian  angelology,  and  closely  connected 
Christ  with  this  order  of  supernatural  beings. 
The  community  at  Batanea  continued  to  use  the 
Syro-Chaldaic  tongue,  in  common  with  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  region  in  which  they  dwelt.  They 
made  use  of  a  primitive  Gospel  written  in  that 
language,  which  has  been  identified  as  the  Gospel 
of  the  Hebrews.  It  contained  no  reference  to  the 
miraculous  birth  of  Jesus,  but  directly  affirmed  his 
manhood,  commencing  with  the  assertion,  as  from 
the  mouths  of  the  apostles,  "There  was  a  man 
named  Jesus,  about  thirty  years  old,  who  hath 
chosen  us  out."  *  The  earliest  generations  of  the 
Nazarenes,  or  Ebionitic  Christians,  wholly  rejected 
the  dogma  of  Christ's  divinity.  During  the  third 
and  fourth  centuries,  however,  some  of  their  num- 
ber appear  to  have  assigned  to  him  a  unique  and 
supernatural  character,  approaching  the  conception 
of  a  divine  being. 

Tlie  liegeud  of  Simon  Magus. 

Among  the  earliest  and  most  noteworthy  Ebion- 
itic documents  are  the  pseudo-Clementine  Homi- 
lies. Herein  we  have  an  account  of  the  alleged 
contest  between  the  Apostle  Peter  and  one  Simon 
Magus,  or  Simon  the  magician,  who  is  represented 
as  a  sorcerer  and  teacher  of  false  doctrines,  who 
travelled  through  Europe  and  Asia  Minor,  claim- 
ing to  be  a  Christian  teacher,  assuming  to  work 
miracles  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  even  seeking 

*  See  the  compilation  of  extant  fragments  of  this  Gospel 
by  Dr.  Nicholson. 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGB       225 

confirm  atioa  as  an  apostle  at  the  hands  of  Peter 
and  John.  The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  also  men- 
tions Simon  Magus;  and  there  is  no  doubt  that 
this  legend  obtained  general  recognition  among 
the  Christians  of  the  early  part  of  the  second 
century,  though  no  mention  of  Simon  is  made  in 
the  secular  history  of  the  period,  and  his  identity 
as  an  historical  personage  is  more  than  problem- 
atical. 

From  the  general  character  of  the  descriptions 
found  in  the  Homilies  and  elsewhere,  the  rational 
investigator  can  hardly  fail  to  be  convinced  with 
Baur*  and  other  liberal  scholars  that  Simon 
Magus  is  no  other  than  an  Ebionitic  caricature  of 
the  Apostle  Paul.  Peter  is  made  to  pass  over 
almost  the  exact  route  of  Paul  in  his  authentic 
journeyings  in  following  Simon  around  to  extir- 
pate the  seeds  of  heresy  and  dissension  which  he 
had  sown  among  the  churches.  There  is  no  his- 
torical evidence,  however,  that  Peter  ever  went 
into  Europe  at  all ;  and  the  entire  story  of  the 
Homilies  must  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  a  semi- 
historical  romance.  Beausobre  terms  Simon  Magus 
"the  hero  of  the  romance  of  heresy";  and  Dean 
Milman  says  of  the  Homilies,  "That  in  their 
present  form  they  are  a  kind  of  religious  romance 
few  will  doubt."  f 

According  to  the  story,  Simon  was  accompanie'' 
in  his  wanderings  by  a  beautiful  but  frail  woman 
named  Helena,  who  is  doubtless  nothing  else  than 

*  History  of  the   Church  in  the  First  Three  Christian 
Centuries.    By  Ferdinand  Christian  Baur. 

t  History  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii. 


226        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  personification  of  the  Hellenic  philosophy  and 
influence  so  noticeable  in  the  writings  of  Paul, 
and  so  demoralizing  to  the  primitive  doctrine  of 
Jesus,  according  to  the  views  of  the  Ebionites. 
In  the  following  address  to  Simon,  recorded  in  the 
Homilies,  the  allusion  to  Paul  is  plain  and  unmis- 
takable: "Even  though  our  Jesus  appeared  to 
thee  in  a  vision,  made  himself  known  to  thee, 
and  talked  with  thee,  he  was  wroth  with  thee  as 
an  adversary,  and  therefore  spoke  to  thee  through 
visions  and  dreams,  or  it  may  be  through  outward 
revelations;  but  can  any  man  be  commissioned 
to  the  office  of  teacher  by  a  vision  ?  And,  if  thou 
sayest  it  is  possible,  why  did  the  teacher  go  about 
constantly  for  a  whole  year  with  men  who  were  not 
dreaming,  but  awake?  And  how  can  we  believe 
that  he  revealed  himself  to  thee?  How  can  he 
have  appeared  to  thee,  who  hast  opinions  contrary 
to  his  doctrines?  If  thou  really  didst  become  an 
apostle  by  his  appearing  to  thee  and  instructing 
thee  for  one  hour,  then  expound  his  sayings, 
preach  his  doctrines,  love  his  apostles,  and  dispute 
not  with  me  who  was  with  him  I  For  thou  hast 
striven  against  me  as  an  adversary,  against  me,  the 
strong  rock,  the  foundation  of  the  church  I"  How 
significant  is  this  language  in  connection  with  the 
notable  fact  that  Paul  quotes  but  once  the 
words  of  Jesus,  and  in  connection  also  with  his 
boast  that  he  withstood  Peter  at  Antioch  "to  his 
very  face"  1 

Simon  Magus  is  everywhere  represented  as  a  man 
of  ecstatic,  visionary  experiences, — an  admitted 
characteristic  of  Paul.    He  is  said  to  have  been 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        227 

born  in  Samaria;  and  Epiphanius  testifies  to  the 
existence  of  a  similar  traditional  belief  among  the 
Ebionites  in   regard  to  Paul.     The  doctrines  of 
Simon,  as  represented  in   the   Homilies,   are  ex- 
aggerations, and  often  misrepresentations,  of  the 
Oriental    and    philosophical    teachings    of    Paul. 
Simon  is  said  to  have  called  himself    the  first 
jeon   or  emanation    from    the   Deity,— a   Gnostic 
conception,  which  is  applied,  not  to  Paul,  but  to 
Christ,  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,— at  the 
time  when  the  Homilies  were  written,  probably 
attributed  to  Paul.     Simon  is  also  represented  as 
a  believer  in   angels   and   demoniacal  influences, 
and  as  making  it  his  avowed  object  to  emancipate 
mankind  from  these  evil  powers.     Paul's  dualism 
is  exaggerated;   and  the  Oriental  doctrine  of  the 
evil  nature  of  the  material  universe,  found  in  the 
Pauline  Epistles,  is  greatly  intensified. 

The  conception  of  Simon  Magus  as  an  historical 
character  once  having  gained  a  foothold  among  the 
traditions  of  the  early  Christians,  many  curious 
legends  grew  up  concerning  him;   and  his  true 
character^  as  identified  with  Paul  was  ultimately 
forgotten.     To  this  day,  he  is  usually  deemed  by 
orthodox  theologians  to  be  an   historical  person- 
age; and  some  regard  him  as  one  of  the  founders 
of  Gnosticism.     There  can  be  little  doubt,  how- 
ever, that   the  theory  of  Baur  presents  the  true 
explanation    of    the    romance    of    the    Homilies. 
Against  the  original  "Simon  Pure,"  in  the  person 
of  Simon  Peter,  the  writer  set  up  this   opposing 
picture  of  the  false  Simon,  or  Simon  the  magician, 
who,  in  his  character  of  an  attempted  purchaser 


228         A   STUDT  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

of  apostolic  honors,  becomes  the  originator  of  the 
ecclesiastical  crime  of  simony.  This  is  doubtless 
a  slanderous  accusation  against  Paul ;  and  its  only 
apparent  historical  foundation  appears  to  be  dis- 
covered in  a  circumstance  every  way  honorable  to 
him, — the  fact  that  he  raised  and  contributed 
money  to  the  struggling  church  of  Peter  and  the 
so-called  "pillar"  apostles  at  Jerusalem.* 

Nero  and  the  Earliest  Cliristian  Persecations. 

The  Apocalypse,  or  Book  of  Revelation,  written 
probably  about  68  A.D.,  shortly  before  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  soon  after  the  death  of 
the  Emperor  Nero,  is  also  a  document  of  strong 
Judseo-Christian  tendencies.  Some  of  its  obscure 
references  to  the  circumstances  of  the  period  have 
doubtless  been  correctly  interpreted  by  Renan  and 
other  critics  of  the  liberal  school.  At  the  time  of 
Nero  occurred  the  most  notable  of  the  early  per- 
secutions of  the  Christians;  though  violent  oppo- 
sition to  the  new  doctrine,  regarded  as  a  phase  of 
Judaism,  had  already  commenced  during  the  reign 
of  his  predecessor,  Claudius.  At  this  time,  dissen- 
sions had  arisen  in  the  Jewish  colony  at  Rome ; 
and,  regarding  the  Christians  as  merely  an  insig- 
nificant sect  of  the  Jews,  Claudius  had  punished 
them  all  together  with  indiscriminate  severity. 
The  Jews  were  generally  looked  upon  as  atheists 
and  contemners  of  the  popular  religion ;  and  the 
Christians  thus  experienced  the  truth  of  the 
homely  proverb,  "Give  a  dog  a  bad  name,  and 
then  hang  him." 

♦Romans  xv.,  26-28. 


THE    CHURCH   IN   THE   AI OSTOLIC   AGE       229 

The  character  of  Nero,  as  preserved  to  us  in 
history,  is  a  most  remarkable  and  detestable  one. 
He  was  the  traditional  aesthete  of  his  period.  A 
scholar,  proficient  in  both  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages,  a  writer  of  poetry,  and  critic  of  no 
mean  pretensions,  he  accepted  the  debased  philos- 
ophy of  the  Epicureans,  and  gave  to  their  concep- 
tion of  happiness  as  the  ideal  end  of  existence  a 
purely  selfish  and  sensuous  interpretation.  "In 
the  strictly  modern  sense  of  culture,"  says  Renan, 
"as  distinguished  from  original  philosophical  spec- 
ulation or  scientific  research,  he  was  the  most 
widely  and  exquisitely  cultivated  man  that  ever 
enjoyed  an  autocrat's  opportunities  for  self-grati- 
fication."* In  his  later  life,  he  was  given  over 
to  the  most  unexampled  exhibitions  of  luxury, 
mingled  with  cruelty  and  the  grossest  sensuality. 
While  he  lived,  he  was  greatly  admired,  even  by 
many  among  the  cultivated  classes.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  custom  of  the  period,  he  received 
divine  honors  as  an  incarnate  deity.  "He  was 
called  Zeus,  the  liberator,"  says  Tiele,  "and  even 
the  saviour  of  the  world."  f  Expiring,  it  is  said, 
with  a  sentence  of  Homer  on  his  lips,  he  left  a 
name  execrated  by  all  succeeding  generations. 

The  great  fire  at  Rome  in  the  year  64  A.D., 
which  some  of  his  contemporaries  attributed  to 
the  act  or  command  of  Nero  himself,  was  by  him 
charged  upon  the  Christians.  Their  identification 
with  the  hated  Jews,  the  false  interpretation  of 

•  The  Antichrist.    By  Ernest  Renan. 
t  History  of  ReHigUm.    By  Prof.  Tiele,  of  the  University 
of  Leyden. 


230        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

their  publicly  proclaimed  doctrine  of  the  speedy 
destruction  of  the  world  by  fire,  their  isolation 
and  avoidance  of  the  public  games  and  the  popu- 
lar worship  of  the  gods,  prepared  the  populace  to 
believe  the  slander,  and  to  rejoice  in  the  acts  of 
persecution  which  followed  its  promulgation.  The 
refinements  of  cruelty  resorted  to  by  Nefo  at  this 
time  were  previously  unknown  in  communities 
claiming  to  be  civilized,  and  are  only  equalled  in 
history  by  the  subsequent  annals  of  the  Christian 
inquisition.  Some  of  the  victims  were  crucified; 
others,  clad  in  the  skins  of  wild  beasts,  were  torn 
in  pieces  by  ferocious  dogs  in  the  presence  of  the 
populace ;  others,  enveloped  in  sheets  dipped  in 
tar,  oil,  or  resin,  and  bound  to  upright  poles, 
served  as  torches  to  illuminate  the  scenes  of  these 
horrid  festivities.  These  executions  often  took 
place  in  the  imperial  gardens;  and  Nero,  in  the 
garb  and  attitude  of  a  gladiator,  rode  to  and  fro 
in  the  midst  of  the  carnival  of  horrors,  courting 
and  receiving  the  popular  applause.  Mythological 
dramas,  involving  the  death  or  torture  of  some 
hero,  were  represented  not  only  "to  the  life,"  but 
even  to  the  death  of  their  actor-victims.  "At  the 
close  of  the  performance,"  says  Renan,  "Mercury, 
with  a  red-hot  iron  rod,  touched  evary  corpse  to 
see  if  it  would  stir ;  and  masked  lackeys,  simulat- 
ing Pluto  or  Orcus,  dragged  the  dead  out  by  their 
feet,  smashing  with  mallets  everything  that  be- 
trayed signs  of  life."  Not  only  Christians,  but 
many  other  convicts  and  prisoners,  were  among 
the  victims  of  this  Infamous  emperor. 


THE   CHURCH   IX   THE   APOSTOLIC   AGE        231 
The  Doctriae  of  the  Antichrist. 

Nero  died  by  suicide  at  the  private  viUa  of 
Phaon,  one  of  his  courtiers.     His  corpse  was  not 
exposed  to  public  recognition.     It  was  even  be- 
lieved by  some  that  the  body  of  another  was  sub- 
stituted for  that  of   the  emperor   at  the  burial. 
The  idea  soon  became  prevalent  that  he  still  lived, 
had  fled  to  Persia  or  the  East,  and  would  presently 
return  at  the  head  of  a  Parthian  army,  and  resume 
his  imperial  sway.     Such  a  conception  easily  took 
possession  of  the  terrified  objects  of  his  persecu- 
tion.   To  the  Christians,  he  naturally  and  mevi- 
tably  became  the  ideal  opponent  of   Jesus,— the 
antichrist,— the  incarnation  of   all  that  was  sen- 
suous and  evil  as  opposed  to  the  incarnation  of  all 
that  was  spiritual  and  good.     The  idea  of  the  anti- 
christ was  a  creation  of  Judaism  during  the  period 
of  the  growth  of  the  Messianic  doctrine.     Some 
writers  even  trace  it  back  to  the  prophet  Ezekiel. 
The  incarnate  representative  of   evil  was  identi- 
fied with  the  person  of  Antiochus  Epiphanes  dur- 
ing  the  Maccab^an  period,  and  is  the  "man  of 
sin"  of  the  Pauline  Epistles. 

The  name  "antichrist"  is  found  in  the  New 
Testament  only  in  the  Epistles  of  John.  The 
Apocalypse,  however,  is  the  book  which  especially 
presents  Nero  in  this  character.  "If  the  Gospel  is 
the  book  of  Jesus,"  says  Renan,  "the  Revelation 
is  the  book  of  Nero."  In  the  description  of  the 
Apocalvptic  visions,  the  name  "Babylon"  is  evi- 
dently substituted  for  Rome;  the  beast  with  seven 
heads  that  rose  out  of  the  sea  is  the  Roman  Em- 
pire from  Augustus  to  Otho ;  the  fifth  head  is 


232         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIAN IT'lf 

Nero,  the  fifth  Emperor,  "wounded  unto  death." 
He  was  the  one  "who  was,  and  is  not,  and  is  to 
be."  He  was  the  El  Mahdi  of  that  period, — the 
leader  of  the  hosts  of  sin,  whose  return  and  tem- 
porary triumph  would  be  the  precursor  of  the  ad- 
vent of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  In  the  simple  and 
superstitious  expectation  of  the  early  Christians, 
he  would  soon  reappear  to  inaugurate  that  interval 
of  woe,  calamity,  and  misfortune  which,  in  the 
prophetic  language  of  the  gospel  tradition,  was  to 
be  the  herald  of  the  return  of  Jesus  to  reign  over 
the  saints  upon  the  regenerated  earth.  "Thanks 
to  the  Apocalypse,"  says  Renan,  "Nero  has  for 
Christianity  the  importance  of  a  second  founder. 
His  odious  visage  has  become  inseparable  from 
the  face  of  Jesus.  Huger  grown  from  age  to  age, 
the  monster,  sprung  from  the  nightmare  of  the 
year  64,  has  become  a  fearful  incubus  on  the  Chris- 
tian conscience,  the  sombre  giant  of  the  evening 
of  the  world.  To  this  day,  in  Armenia  the  name 
of  the  Antichrist  is  Neron.  In  the  seventeenth 
century,  a  folio  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  pages 
was  composed  upon  his  birth  and  education,  his 
vices  and  his  wishes,  his  perfumes  and  his  women, 
his  teachings,  his  miracles  and  his  junketings." 
There  is  no  doubt,  however,  that  Nero  was  much 
more  to  Christianity  than  the  new  faith  was  to 
him.  By  him,  it  was  little  noticed,  save  at  the 
moment  when  it  served  as  the  convenient  means 
of  turning  from  himself  the  odium  of  the  popu- 
lace, aroused  by  the  incendiary  conflagration  at 
Rome.  The  Apostolic  Periou,  on  the  whole,  was 
favorable  to  the  growth  of    Christianity,  which 


THE   CHURCH   IN   THE   APOsTOLIC   AGE        233 

found  in  its  own  insignificance  and  obscurity  the 
essential  conditions  of  its  early  development. 

Other  Characteristics  of  Christian  Thought  in 
this  Age. 

In  such  an  atmosphere  of  strange  and  fantastic 
ideas,  we  discover  the  Christians  of  the  Apostolic 
Age.  Surely,  if  there  is  much  in  their  ways  of 
thought  and  life,  in  their  doctrine  of  human  broth- 
erhood and  their  generally  pure  morality,  to  give 
encouragement  for  the  future,  there  was  also  much, 
upon  a  superficial  view,  to  justify  the  denuncia- 
tion of  the  new  sect  by  Tacitus  as  "an  execrable 
superstition."  Clement  of  Rome,  the  venerated 
Father  of  the  Church,  writing  at  the  close  of  the 
first  century,  relates  the  mythical  story  of  the 
phoenix  as  a  well-known  fact  of  natural  history, 
and  uses  it  as  an  argument  for  the  resurrection. 
Tertullian,  a  century  later,  was  equally  credulous. 
The  writer  of  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas  asserts  that 
the  hyena  is  male  and  female  on  alternate  years. 
Belief  in  demons  and  demoniacal  possession  was  a 
universal  Christian  delusion.  The  sun,  moon,  and 
stars  were  deemed  to  be  living  creatures.  The 
lofty  ethics  and  noble  example  of  Jesus  were  al- 
ready becoming  obscured  by  puerile  dogma,  super- 
stition, and  ritualism.  The  triumph  of  Christi- 
anity, with  these  ideas  predominant,  seemed  likely 
to  extinguish  the  better  elements  in  the  primitive 
gospel  tradition.  The  supernatural  Christ — the 
incarnate  Deity — was  beginning  to  usurp  the 
position  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth  in  the  minds  of 
his  followers.    The  subsequent  history  of  the  evo 


234        A   STUDY   OF   PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

lution  of  the  Roman  hierarchy  and  of  its  secular 
triumph  did  much  to  justify  the  original  gospel 
teaching  of  the  blessedness  of  poverty  and  the 
unrighteousness  of  the  mammon  of  this  world. 
Yet,  beneath  all  this  incubus  of  puerile  supernatu- 
ralism,  the  toiling  poor  in  the  Christian  commu- 
nities, little  caring  for  disputes  about  dogma  or 
subtle  questions  concerning  the  relation  of  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  held  fast  to  the  conception  of 
Christ  as  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  clung  to  the 
hope,  born  of  the  gospel  promises,  that  the  day  of 
their  trial  and  suffering  would  soon  pass  away,  and 
that  the  time  would  speedily  come  when  all  men 
should  dwell  as  equals  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
heavenly  Father. 


IX. 

THE  MARTYR  PERIOD. 

The  period  in  Roman  history  extending  from 
the  year  96  A.D.  to  the  year  180  A.D.  includes 
the  reigns  of  the  "five  good  emperors," — Nerva, 
Trajan,  Hadrian,  Antoninus  Pius,  and  Marcus 
Aurelius  Antoninus.  These  emperors  exercised,  in 
the  main,  a  mild  and  beneficent  sway  over  their 
subjects.  Their  government  was  paternal  and 
humane,  inspired  as  it  was  by  the  lofty  ethical  pre- 
cepts of  the  Stoic  philosophy.  The  empire  was  at 
the  height  of  its  power  and  magnificence.  If  we 
may  not  accept  in  full  the  eulogy  of  Gibbon,  we 
must  at  least  admit  that  at  no  previous  era  in  the 
history  of  the  race  had  the  condition  of  the  masses 
of  the  people  been  so  favorable  to  their  prosperity 
and  happiness. 

In  Christian  history,  this  was  the  period  during 
which  probably  all  of  our  canonical  Gospels  were 
written.  The  Christian  dogmas  were  beginning 
to  assume  their  final  and  authoritative  form.  The 
Catholic,  or  orthodox.  Church  was  separating  itself 
Erom  Gnosticism,  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  Ebi- 
onism  on  the  other.  Controversies  about  doctrine 
led  to  the  appearance  of  the  early  patristic  liter- 
ature.    Ecclesiasticism  was  growing ;  and  in  oppo- 


236         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

sition  to  the  doctrinal  tendencies  of  the  time  ap- 
peared  Montanism,  that  fanatical  protest  against 
early  ecclesiasticism,  which  aimed  to  restore  the 
primitive  democratic  equality  of  the  earliest  Chris- 
tian communities,  and  advocated  a  return  to  the 
simple  faith  of  the  fathers.  Strangely,  as  it  would 
seem,  this  period  was  also  coincident  with  the 
earlier  Christian  persecutions:  it  was  the  heroic 
era  in  the  history  of  the  Church. 

The  Earliest  Martyrs.— Orowing  Inflaence  of  the 
Chnrch  at  Rome. 

The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  by  Titus,  in  the 
year  70  A.D.,  was  an  event  of  great  significance 
to  primitive  Christianity.  Thereafter,  the  Church 
of  the  apostles,  dissevered  from  Judaism  and  the 
Temple  worship,  assumed  a  position  of  much  less 
relative  importance  than  it  had  heretofore  main- 
tained among  the  followers  of  the  new  faith.  As 
the  Church  at  Jerusalem  receded  from  its  foremost 
position,  the  Church  at  Rome  came  to  the  front, 
increasing  steadily  in  power  and  influence.  The 
Epistle  of  Clement  of  Rome  to  the  Corinthians, 
written  probably  in  the  last  years  of  the  first  Chris- 
tian century,  already  exhibits  something  of  that 
spirit  of  paternal  supervision  and  authority  which 
was  finally  assumed  by  the  bishop  of  Rome  as  the 
supreme  pontiff. 

Paul,  not  improbably,  and  Peter,  according  to  a 
current  though  questionable  tradition,  had  already 
suffered  martyrdom  at  Rome  during  the  reign  of 
Nero.  Their  names  were  thus  united  in  the  popu- 
lar mind,  to  strengthen  the  growing  tendency  to 


THE    MARTYR   PERIOD  237 

throw  a  halo  of  saperiority  and  supremacy  around 
the  Roman  Church.  The  blood  of  these  earliest 
martyrs  became  in  very  truth  the  seed  of  the 
Roman  hierarchy.  Shocking  as  was  the  barbarity 
of  Nero's  persecution,  however,  it  can  hardly  be 
said  to  have  been  consciously  aimed  at  the  Chris- 
tian religion.  So  insignificant  were  the  Christians 
as  a  sect,  that  the  emperor  could  not  have  foreseen 
any  danger  to  the  empire  from  the  extension  of 
their  faith.  Their  very  insignificance,  indeed,  and 
their  identification  in  the  popular  mind  with  the 
despised  Jews,  appear  to  have  been  the  occasions 
of  their  martyrdom.  To  the  later  reign  of  Domi- 
tian  has  been  assigned  the  martyrdom  of  Flavius 
Clemens, — a  Roman  of  wealth  and  rank,  who  had 
embraced  the  new  religion, — on  the  charge  of 
atheism,  though  the  history  of  this  occurrence  is 
involved  in  obscurity ;  and  his  execution  may  have 
been  due  to  political  or  social  rather  than  to  relig- 
ous  causes,  his  religion  serving  merely  as  a  pre- 
text to  cover  the  real  designs  of  the  emperor.  The 
martyrdom  of  John,  the  evangelist,  has  been  as- 
signed by  some  to  the  reign  of  Domitian.  The  ac- 
counts of  this  event,  however,  are  wholly  legendary 
and  unreliable. 

The  Reigns  of  Trajan,  Hadrian,  and  Autoniiias 

Pius. 

As  the  new  religion  became  more  prominent,  its 
universalizing  tendencies  were  emphasized  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  prevailing  ethnical  systems ;  and  its 
uncompromising  hostility  to  the  popular  cultus 
caused  it  to  be  regarded  with  growing  disfavor  by 
the  government.     The  reigns  of  Trajan  and  Ha- 


238         A    STUDY   OF    PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

drian,  however,  were  generally  favorable  to  its  ea 
pansion ;  and  these  wise  and  humane  emperors  can- 
not be  charged  with  any  deliberate  persecution  of 
its  followers.  The  few  instances  of  prosecution 
for  religious  causes  during  tJ->ese  reigns,  based  upon 
charges  of  denying  the  gods,  failure  to  offer  sac- 
rifices, and  holding  secret  meetings,  or  "illicit  as- 
semblies," were  conducted  under  laws  of  the  em- 
pire already  existing,  and  originally  promulgated 
without  reference  to  Christianity  or  any  particular 
form  of  religious  faith.  These  prosecutions  were 
instigated  by  popular  clamor,  and  were  local  and 
unimportant  in  their  character. 

Pliny,  the  governor  of  Bithynia,  who  regarded 
the  new  religion  as  "a  culpable  and  extravagant 
superstition,"  was  forced  by  accusations  brought 
under  the  laws  of  the  empire  to  arrest,  condemn, 
and  execute  certain  Christians  who  refused  to  re- 
nounce their  faith.  He  was  not  incited  to  this 
course  by  any  special  edict  or  command  of  the 
emperor,  nor  did  he  in  any  way  exceed  the  man- 
dates of  existing  laws.  The  celebrated  rescript 
of  Trajan,  issued  on  receipt  of  despatches  from 
Pliny  concerning  the  prosecution  of  the  Christians, 
appears  to  have  been  intended  to  favor  and  protect 
the  accused  rather  than  to  urge  on  their  persecu- 
tors. It  required  that  punishment  should  only  be 
inflicted  according  to  the  due  forms  of  law,  and 
ordained  that  opportunity  should  be  offered  for 
recantation  and  conformity  to  the  law,  which,  if 
accepted,  would  be  a  sufficient  defence  against  the 
prosecution.  Dean  Mil  man,  an  able  and  candid 
Christian  historian,  testifies  to  the  forbearance  of 


THE    MARTYR    PERIOD  239 

Trajan  and  Hadrian  as  well  as  Pliny  in  their  deal- 
ings with  the  Christians,  declaring  that  "Trajan 
is  absolved,  at  least  by  the  almost  general  voice  of 
antiquity,  from  the  crime  of  persecuting  the  Chris- 
tians," and  asserting  further  that,  "under  a  less 
candid  governor  than  Pliny  and  an  emperor  less 
humane  and  dispassionate  than  Trajan,  the  exter- 
minating sword  of  persecution  would  have  been 
let  loose,  and  a  relentless  and  systematic  edict  for 
the  suppression  of  Christianity  would  have  hunted 
down  its  followers  in  every  quarter  of  the  empire."* 

It  is  evident  that  the  attacks  on  Christianity  at 
this  time  originated  with  the  ignorant  and  super- 
stitious populace  of  certain  localities,  remote, 
usually,  from  the  capital ;  and  that,  in  so  far  as 
they  received  the  sanction  of  the  imperial  govern- 
ment, they  were  instigated  by  no  general  desire  to 
persecute  or  destroy.  The  Christians  were  still 
often  confounded  with  the  Jews,  who,  both  in  Pal- 
estine and  in  Mesopotamia,  were  manifesting  signs 
of  discontent  and  rebellion.  A  few  years  later, 
this  rebellious  spirit  culminated  in  the  insurrection 
of  Bar-Cochba,  in  which  many  thousands  of  lives 
were  sacrificed.  This  tended  to  inflame  and  aug- 
ment the  popular  prejudice  against  both  the  Chris- 
tians and  the  Jews. 

The  unyielding  and  fanatical  temper  of  the 
Christians  themselves  undoubtedly  helped  to  stim- 
ulate this  spirit  of  persecution.  Martyrdom  was 
often  counted  as  the  greatest  of  blessings,  and  was 
regarded  as  a  certain  assurance  of  admission  to 

•Milman  also  saya  of  an  order  of  Hadrian  reaffirming 
that  of  Trajan,  The  edict  does  credit  to  the  humanity 
and  wisdom  of  Ha.dTia.n.— History  of  Christianity,  vol.  ii. 


240        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  glories  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  In  the  cor- 
respondence of  Ignatius,  bishop  of  Antioch,  says 
Dean  Milman,  "there  is  throughout  a  wild  eager- 
ness for  martyrdom.  .  .  .  He  even  deprecates  the 
interference  of  his  Christian  friends  in  his  behalf. 
He  fears  lest  their  ill-timed  and,  as  he  thinks, 
cruelly  officious  love  might  by  some  influence  .  . . 
deprive  him  of  that  glorious  crown,"  The  follow- 
ing passages  from  the  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the 
Romans  are  illustrative  of  a  spirit  which  prevailed 
very  generally  among  the  Christians  of  his  time  : — 

I  write  to  the  churches,  and  I  declare  to  all  that 
willingly  I  die  for  God,  if  it  be  that  you  hinder  me 
not.  I  beg  of  you  do  not  become  to  me  an  unreason- 
able love.  Let  me  be  for  the  beasts,  by  whose  means 
I  am  enabled  to  obtain  God.  I  am  God's  wheat,  and 
by  the  teeth  of  the  beasts  I  am  ground,  that  I  may  be 
found  God'a  pure  bread.  Rather  entreat  kindly  the 
beasts  that  they  may  be  a  grave  for  me,  and  leave 
nothing  of  my  body.  .  .  .  Supplicate  our  Lord  for  me, 
that  by  these  instruments  I  may  be  found  a  sacrifice 
to  God.  .  .  .  May  I  have  to  rejoice  of  the  beasts  pre- 
pared for  me  i  And  I  pray  that  they  may  be  found 
ready  for  me;  and  I  will  kindly  entreat  them  quickly 
to  devour  me,  and  not,  as  they  have  done  to  some, 
being  afraid  of  them,  to  keep  from  touching  me. 
And,  should  they  not  be  willing,  I  will  force  them.  •  . . 
Those  who  say  "Martyr"  to  me  scourge  me.  It  is 
true  that  I  desire  to  suiier,  but  I  do  not  know  if  I  am 
worthy. 

The  Gnostic  heretics  of  this  period  were  de- 
nounced by  their  orthodox  opponents,  not  only  for 
their  errors  of  opinion  upon  dogmatic  questions,  but 
also  for  holding  that  martyrdom  was  unnecessary 


THE   MARTYR   PERIOD  241 

and  non-essential  to  salvation.  The  reigns  of  Trajan, 
Hadrian,  and  Antoninus  Pius,  on  the  whole,  were 
favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  new  religion.  The 
latter  emperor  both  professed  and  practised  in 
accordance  with  the  humane  maxim  of  Scipio, 
which  asserted  that  he  would  rather  save  the  life 
of  a  single  citizen  than  cause  the  death  of  a  thou- 
sand enemies.  There  is  no  reliable  evidence  of 
the  persecution  of  the  Christians  during  his  reign  ; 
nor  are  there  any  notable  instances  of  martyrdom, 
with  the  possible  exception  of  Polycarp,  the  vener- 
able bishop  of  Smyrna,  whose  execution,  however, 
is  usually  referred  to  the  reign  of  his  successor. 
The  general  voice,  even  of  Christian  antiquity,  is 
favorable  to  the  justice  and  tolerance  of  Antoni- 
nus Pius.* 

Marcus  Anrelius  and  ibe  Persecution  of  the 
Christiaus. 

The  attitude  of  the  great  emperor,  Marcus 
Aurelius,  toward  the  Christian  Church,  has  been 
severely  and,  as  we  think,  unjustly  attacked  by 
Christian  apologists  and  historians  of  recent  times. 
A  man  of  the  purest  personal  character  and  lofti- 
est religious  sentiments, — accepting  the  exalted 
ethical  principles  of  the  Stoic  philosophy, — it  is 
difficult  to  conceive  that  he  could  deliberately  per- 
secute the  adherents  of  any  form  of  religion  on 
account  of  their  belief.  "Marcus  Aurelius,"  says 
Dr.   Hedge,  "standing   midway  between  the  first 

*A  writer  in  the  EncyclopcBdia  Britannica  says  of  this 
emperor,  "Instead  of  stirring  up  the  persecutions  of  the 
Christians,  and  gloating  over  the  sufferings  of  their  mar- 
tyrs, he  extended  to  them  the  strong  hand  of  his  protec- 
tion  through   all   the   empire."— Art.    "Antoninus  Pius." 


242         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

appearance  of  Christianity  and  its  civil  enfran- 
chisement, represents  the  high-water  mark  of 
Roman  greatness,  as  he  does  the  height  of  Impe- 
rial virtue  in  the  annals  of  mankind.  .  •  .  Neither 
in  St.  Louis  nor  in  English  Alfred,  to  whom 
Merivale  compares  him,  do  T  find  the  same  piety, 
the  moral  sublimity,  which  I  admire  in  the  Roman 
sovereign."  * 

The  character  of  Marcus  Aurelius  was  moulded 
by  a  nature  at  once  profoundly  religious  and 
intensely  practical.  Though  a  careful  student  of 
philosophy,  holding  his  teachers  in  reverent 
regard,  he  never  lost  himself  in  the  mazes  of  meta- 
physical speculation,  or  permitted  his  mind  to 
fall  into  the  profound  pessimism  of  the  Oriental 
mystics,  with  its  resulting  absorption  from  the 
affairs  of  practical  life  and  despair  of  the  future 
of  humanity.  His  teaching  was  as  universal  and 
as  practical  as  that  of  Paul.  He  professed,  in- 
deed, no  belief  in  dogmas  of  a  merely  speculative 
character.  His  theology  was,  as  nearly  as  possi- 
ble, a  sort  of  cosmic  theism.  "He  saw  clearly," 
says  Renan,  "that,  where  the  Infinite  is  concerned, 
no  formula  is  absolute.  .  .  .  He  distinctly  separated 
moral  beauty  from  all  theoretical  theology.  He 
allows  duty  to  depend  upon  no  metaphysical  opin- 
ion of  the  First  Cause."  f  Herein,  Marcus  Aure- 
lius anticipated  the  rationalistic  philosophies  of 
Spinoza  and  Herbert  Spencer.  Very  deeply  relig- 
ious, nevertheless,  was  his  attitude  toward  that 
Unknowable  Reality  of  which  all  phenomena  are 

♦"Christianity  in   Conflict  with   Hellenism,"  by  Fred- 
eric Henry  Hedge,  D.D.,  in  Unitarian  Review. 
^  Marcus  AureLius.    By  Ernest  Renan. 


THE    MARTYR   PERIOD  243 

dependent  manifestations.  "All  that  thou  arrang- 
est  is  suited  to  me,  O  Kosmos  1"  he  says.  "Noth- 
ing of  that  which  comes  from  thee  is  premature 
or  backward  to  me.  I  find  my  fruit  in  that  which 
thy  seasons  bear,  O  Nature  I  From  thee  comes 
all.  In  thee  is  all :  to  thee  all  returns."  *  It  may 
be  said  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  as  Carlyle  once 
affirmed  of  Margaret  Fuller : — He  accepted  the 
universe.  He  designated  himself  as  "a  man 
ready  to  quit  life  without  regret" ;  yet  he  found 
in  life  more  of  good  than  of  evil,  and  accepted 
whatever  of  care  and  trouble  fell  to  his  lot  with 
manly  resignation.  "The  character  of  Marcus," 
again  says  Dr.  Hedge,  "is  revealed  in  his  self- 
communings,  which  have  come  down  to  us,  an 
imperishable  volume, — the  so-called  Meditations  of 
the  Emperor  Antoninus.  Better  preaching  I  have 
not  found,  nor  thoughts  more  edifying,  in  any 
Christian  writer  of  that  time.  A  sombre  spirit, 
but  how  sweet,  how  grand  1" 

There  was  about  Marcus  Aurelius  nothing  of 
the  autocrat  or  tyrant.  Though  clothed  with 
unlimited  power,  he  used  it  all  to  promote  and 
increase  the  liberties  of  his  people.  He  recognized 
all  men  as  possessing  a  common  humanity  with 
himself.f  One  day,  he  thus  reproached  himself: 
"Thou  hast  forgotten  what  holy  relationship 
unites  each  man  to  the  human  race, — a  relation- 
ship not  of  blood  or  of  birth,  but  the  participation 

*  Meditations  of  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus.  See  also 
Selections,  "Wisdom  Series."    (Roberts  Brothers.) 

t  "1  have  formed  an  ideal  of  the  State,"  he  says,  "in 
which  there  is  the  same  law  for  all,  and  equal  rights  and 
equal  liberty  of  speech  for  all,— an  empire  where  nothing  is 
honored  so  much  as  the  freedom  of  the  citizens." 


244         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

of  the  same  intelligence.  Thou  hast  forgotteu 
that  the  rational  faculty  of  each  one  is  a  god, 
derived  from  the  Supreme  Being." 

Matthew  Arnold  savs  that  Marcus  Aurelius  "is, 
perhaps,  the  most  beautiful  figure  in  history," 
and  adds  :  "The  great  record  for  the  outward  life 
of  a  man  who  has  left  such  a  record  of  his  inward 
aspirations ...  is  the  clear  consenting  voice  of 
all  his  contemporaries — high  and  low,  friend  and 
enemy,  Pagan  and  Christian — in  praise  of  his 
sincerity,  justice,  and  goodness."  Niebuhr  de- 
clares him  to  be  "certainly  the  noblest  character 
of  his  time" ;  and  Renan  closes  his  lecture  before 
the  Royal  Academy  with  the  following  memorable 
words :  "The  religion  of  Marcus  Aurelius  is  the 
absolute  religion, — that  which  results  from  the 
simple  fact  of  a  high  moral  conscience  placed 
face  to  face  with  the  universe.  It  is  of  no  race, 
neither  of  any  country.  No  revolution,  no 
change,  no  discovery,  will  have  power  to  affect  it." 

It  is,  nevertheless,  unhappily  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tians were  condemned  under  the  laws  of  the 
empire,  and  upon  some  the  penalty  of  death  was 
inflicted,  during  the  reign  of  this  exemplary  ruler. 
Even  so  candid  and  careful  an  historian  as  Dean 
Milman  attributes  to  Marcus  Aurelius  the  promul- 
gation of  an  edict  which  repealed  the  acts  of 
toleration  granted  by  his  predecessors,  and  opened 
anew  the  flood-gates  of  oppression  and  persecu- 
tion. From  the  testimony  of  Watson,  Renan, 
and  other  unbiassed  historians,  it  appears,  how- 
ever, that  this  edict  was  issued  for  the  protection 
rather  than  the  persecution  of  the  Christians,  aim- 


THE   MAKTYK   PERIOD  245 

ing  to  renew  the  wise  provisions  of  Trajan's 
rescript,  which  compelled  a  strict  adherence  to 
legal  forms  in  the  prosecution  of  alleged  violators 
of  the  laws  of  the  empire. 

To  this  period  is  usually  assigned  the  martyr- 
dom of  the  venerable  Polycarp,  the  bishop  of 
Smyrna,  whose  calm  dignity  and  patient  endur- 
ance furnish  so  fine  a  picture  in  the  annals  of  the 
martyrs.  The  Marlyrium  of  Polycarp,  however, 
can  hardly  be  deemed  with  certainty  a  reliable 
historical  record ;  though  conservative  historians 
have  generally  accepted  it  as  a  genuine  document 
of  the  Smyrnian  Church.  Nor  does  it  appear  to 
be  certain  that  the  time  of  Polycarp's  death  is 
definitely  assignable  to  the  reign  of  Marcus 
Aurelius.  Certain  chronological  notes  appended 
to  the  Marlyrium  by  a  later  writer  than  its  un- 
known author  would  fix  the  date  in  the  year 
155  A.D.,  or  some  six  years  previous  to  the  acces- 
sion of  the  great  Stoic  emperor.  At  all  events, 
there  is  no  evidence  that  the  emperor  was  directly 
or  indirectly  influential  in  promoting  this  act  of 
persecution,  or  that  he  even  knew  of  the  event 
before  its  occurrence.  "Polycarp,"  says  Dean 
Milman,  "closed  the  nameless  train  of  Asiatic 
martyrs." 

At  Lyons  and  Vienne,  however,  on  the  borders 
of  Gaul  and  Italy,  a  colony  of  Christian  emigrants 
from  Phrygia,  in  Asia  Minor,  in  doctrine  and 
customs  akin  to  the  Montanists,  suffered,  about 
the  year  177,  from  an  ebullition  of  popular  fury, 
to  which  some  of  them  fell  victims.  They  were 
first  assaulted  with  mob  violence,  beaten,  stoned, 


246         A    STUDY   OF    PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

dragged  helpless  about  the  streets,  and  finally 
compelled  through  fear  to  remain  in  confinement 
within  their  own  houses.  The  order  for  their 
arrest,  issued  by  the  authorities,  was  in  reality  an 
act  of  mercy,  inasmuch  as  it  protected  them  for 
the  time  from  the  violence  of  the  mob.  Their 
leaders  were  accused  before  the  magistrates  of 
the  most  odious  crimes, — of  incest,  concubinage, 
banquets  upon  human  flesh,  and  the  grossest 
offences  against  decency  and  morality.  They 
were  convicted  on  the  testimony  of  their  heathen 
slaves,  and  hurried  to  execution.  It  is  a  fact  of 
strange  significance  that  the  institution  of  slavery, 
tolerated,  if  not  justified,  by  the  Christian  Fathers, 
thus  early  in  the  history  of  the  Church  appeared 
as  an  avenging  Nemesis  in  retribution  for  the 
fatal  inconsistency  which  ignored  the  fundamental 
ethical  and  social  doctrines  of  the  new  religion, 
or  feared  to  carry  them  to  their  logical  conclusions 
in  practice. 

Even  the  more  moderate  of  the  non-Christian 
populace  appear,  at  the  time,  to  have  believed 
these  charges  against  the  Christians,  and  to  have 
consented  to  the  execution  of  the  condemned.  .  In 
accordance  with  the  practice  of  the  time,  many 
were  subjected  to  horrible  tortures.  Some  per- 
ished in  loathsome  dungeons,  others  by  the 
customary  modes  of  execution.  Among  the  vic- 
tims were  Sanctus,  a  deacon  of  Vienne ;  a  recent 
convert  named  Maturus ;  one  Attains,  a  Phrygian ; 
and  Pothinus,  the  aged  bishop  of  Lyons.  The 
most  remarkable  of  the  martyrs,  however,  was  Blan- 
dina,  a  female  slave,  who,  after  suffering  the  most 


THE   MARTYR    PERIOD  247 

horrible  tortures  unflinchingly,  was  thrice  exposed 
to  wild  beasts  in  the  public  arena.  At  last,  having 
been  tossed  by  an  infuriated  bull,  and  terribly  muti- 
lated, she  was  despatched  by  the  sword  of  an 
attendant  gladiator.  She  bore  all  her  sufferings 
with  the  most  heroic  endurance,  steadfastly  pro- 
claiming, "I  am  a  Christian,  and  no  wickedness 
is  practised  among  us." 

It  is  the  testimony  of  Watson  *  and  other  un- 
biassed and  competent  historians    that    the  em- 
peror was  not  aware  of  the  proceedings  at  Lyons 
and  Vienne  until  a  considerable  time  after  the 
commencement  of  the  persecutions ;  and  the  only 
influence  which  he  appears  to  have  exerted  subse- 
quently was  directed    toward    the    protection  of 
the  accused  from  mob  violence,  by  enforcing  the 
provisions  of  the  rescript  of  Trajan.     The  only 
instance  of  alleged  persecution  of  the  Christians 
at  Rome  is  the  condemnation   and  execution  of 
Justin,  the  noted  Christian  apologist,  with  several 
of  his  companions.    Justin  had  obtained  unusual 
notoriety  by  his  contests  with  Marcion  and  the 
Jew,    Trypho,  and    had    especially  incurrea    the 
hostility  of  one  Crescentius,  a  Cynic  philosopher, 
with  whom  he  had  been  involved  in  debate  and 
controversy.    By  the  machinations  of  Crescentius, 
he  was  accused  before  the  tribunal  of   Rusticus, 
an  imperial  justice,  tried,   condemned,   and  exe- 
cuted.    The  emperor  took  no  part  in  his  prosecu- 
tion, nor    was  'there    at    any  time  any    general 
persecution  of  the   Church  at  Rome  during  this 
reign.      On    the    contrary,    the    Christians    were 
•  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus.    By  Paul  Barron  Watson. 


248        A   feTUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

everywhere  making  their  way  to  positions  of  trust 
and  profit.  They  were  enrolled  among  the  impe- 
rial legions,  and  it  is  even  asserted  that  they  had 
obtained  a  foothold  in  the  imperial  household  * 

On  the  whole,  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius  was, 
to  a  marked  degree,  favorable  to  the  progress  of 
civilization,  and  not  inimical  to  the  advancement 
of  the  nobler  phases  of  the  Christian  faith.  The 
emperor  instituted  numerous  reforms  in  the  gov- 
ernment and  regulation  of  the  empire.  He 
elevated  the  position  of  woman,  and  mitigated  the 
severity  of  the  institution  of  slavery,  instituting 
regulations  favorable  to  the  manumission  and 
protection  of  the  servile  classes.  The  public  chari- 
ties founded  by  Nerva  and  Trajan  were  protected 
and  extended  under  his  influence.  Free  schools 
were  established  for  the  children  of  the  poor.  The 
gratuitous  distribution  of  food  to  the  needy  was 
continued,  under  an  improved  system.  An  insti- 
tution was  opened  for  the  care  and  assistance  of 
poor  young  girls.  Renan,  speaking  of  Marcus 
Aurelius,  declares,  "His  fortune  was  immense,  but 
all  employed  for  good." 

The  testimony  of  the  most  trustworthy  among 
the  early  Christian  writers  should  be  conclusive 
as  against  the  orthodox  defamers  of  Marcus 
Aurelius.  Tertullian,  himself  a  Montanist,  as, 
probably,  were  Blandina  and  the  martyrs  of  Lyons 
and  Vienne,  testifies  as  follows:  "You  will  see 
that  the  princes  who  have  been  severe  toward  us 

•Matthew  Arnold  asserts  that  "Marcus  Aurelius  incurs 
no  moral  reproach  by  having  authorized  the  punishment 
of  the  Christians ;  he  does  not  thereby  become  in  the  least 
what  we  mean  by  a  persecutor."— Essay  on  Marcus 
Aurelius. 


THE   MARTYR   PERIOD  249 

are  those  who  have  held  to  the  honor  of  being  our 
persecutors.  On  the  contrary,  all  the  princes  who 
have  respected  divine  and  human  laws  include  but 
one  who  persecuted  the  Christians.  We  can  even 
name  one  of  them  who  declared  himself  their 
protector, — the  wise  Marcus  Aurelius.  If  he  did 
not  openly  revoke  the  edicts  against  our  brethren, 
he  destroyed  their  power  by  the  severe  penalties 
against  their  accusers."  We  have  also  the  unqual- 
ified statement  of  Origen,  writing  about  the  middle 
of  the  third  century,  that  "the  number  of  Christian 
martyrs  was  small  and  easy  to  be  counted,  God  not 
permitting  that  all  of  this  class  of  men  should  be 
exterminated."  Watson,  the  most  recent  biographer 
of  Marcus  Aurelius,  fixes  the  number  of  Christians 
who  suffered  death  during  his  reign  at  about  a 
hundred,*  which   is   doubtless  a  liberal  estimate. 

Stoicism  a  Preparation  for  Christiauity. 

Reviewing  the  period  of  the  Stoic  emperors 
from  the  stand-point  of  comparative  religion,  we 
cannot  doubt  that  the  public  recognition  and 
general  diffusion  of  the  principles  of  Stoicism  were 
strongly  influential  in  preparing  the  way  for  the 
progress  of  Christianity.  Reichel  asserts  of  the 
post-Aristotelian  period,  in  the  development  of 
philosophy,  that  it  supplied  the  scientific  mould 
into  which  Christianity,  in  the  early  years  of  its 
growth,  was  cast,  and  bearing  the  shape  of  which 
it  has  come  down  to  us.f  While,  on  its  dogmatic 
side,  the  influence  of  Platonism,  and  especially  of 
the  Neo-Platonic  school  of  Alexandria,  is  predomi- 


*  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus.    By  Paul  Barron  Watsou. 
+  Oswald  J.  Reicdel,  B.C.L,.  and  M. A.,  vicar  of  Sparsholt, 
Berks. 


250        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

nant,  on  its  social  and  ethical  side,  Stoicism  was 
scarcely  less  influential.    Both  Stoicism  and  Neo- 
Platonism  were  products  of  the  intermingling  of 
Greek    with    Semitic    thought,    the    latter    even 
predominating  in  the  direction  and  development 
of  Stoicism.     Zeller  affirms  that  "the  Stoic  phi- 
losophy contains  no  feature  of  importance  which 
we  can  pronounce  with  certainty  to  be  taken  from 
the  popular  faith.    Even  the  true  worship  of  God, 
according  to  their  view,  consists  only  in  the  mental 
effort  to  know  God,  and  in  a  moral  and  pious 
life."*    And  again:  "Even  at  Athens  there  were 
teachers,    not    a    few,  whose    foreign    extraction 
indicates  the  age  of  Hellenism.    Next  to  the  later 
Neo-Platonic  school,  this  remark  is  of  none  more 
true    than    of    the    Stoic.      With    this    fact    we 
may  always  connect  the  world-citizenship  of  this 
school."!      A    recent    writer    in    the    Nineteenth 
Century  has  well  stated  the  relation  of  Stoicism 
to  Christianity,  and  of  both   to  the  pre-existing 
faiths.     "The  new  tone  of  Greek  ethical  thought 
displayed  in  the  rise  of  Stoicism,"  he  says,  "must 
have  been  due,  according  to  our  national-psycho- 
logical stand-point,  to  some  cross-fertilization  by 
the  ideas  of  a  different  race;  and  Sir  Alexander 
Grants  has  shown  that  all  the  eminent   Stoics 
were  of  Semitic  origin.     The  similarity  which  has 
struck  most  observers  between  Stoicism  and  Chris- 
tianity receives  its  explanation  from  our  present 
stand-point,  when  we  remember  that  both  were 
cross-fertilizations  of  Hellenism  by  Semitism.    The 

*  The  Stoics,  EjAcnireans,  and  Sceptics,  p.  343.    By  Dr.  B. 
Zeller.  professor  at  Heidelberg.  1 1bid.,  p.  35. 

%  Aristotle's  Ethics  (third  edition),  i.,  p.  307. 


THE   MARTYR   PERIOD  251 

difEeience,  too,  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that,  iu  one 
case,  the  less  intense  Semites  were  the  missionaries, 
while  Christianity  was  propagated  by  the  fiery 
zeal  of  the  Jews.  The  spread  of  Stoicism  among 
the  Romans  cannot  but  have  had  some  influence 
iu  preparing  the  way  for  Christianity."* 

The  Persccutiona  of  Diocletian  and  Decicis. 

The  emperors,  from  the  reign  of  Marcus  Aurelius 
to  that  of  Decius  (249-251  A.D.),  if  not  friendly  to 
Christianity,  were  at  least  indifferent  to  it.  Elaga- 
balus  (218  A.D.),  who  assumed  the  ma.nner3  and 
state  of  an  Oriental  despot,  conceived  the  idea  of 
a  universal  eclectic  cultus,  which  should  fuse  the 
Jewish  and  Samaritan  with  the  Pagan  and  Chris- 
tian religions,  with  the  sun  as  the  supreme  object 
of  adoration,  and  the  emperor  as  his  earthly  incar- 
nation and  representative, — a  conception  similar  to 
that  of  Kuhn-Aten,  the  fourth  Amen-hotep  of 
Egypt.  Alexander  Severus  (222-249  A.D.)  carried 
his  eclecticism  so  far  that  he  enlarged  the  temples 
of  Isis  and  Osiris,  and  enshrined  in  the  palace  as 
his  household  deities  Orpheus,  Abraham,  Jesus, 
and  Apollonius  of  Tyana.  He  awarded  a  piece  of 
ground,  the  ownership  of  which  was  in  dispute,  to 
the  Christians,  for  the  alleged  reason  that  it  was 
better  for  it  to  be  devoted  to  the  worship  of  God 
in  any  form  than  to  any  profane  or  secular  occu- 
pation.! 

•"The  God  of  Israel,"  by  Josepl"  Jacobs,  Nineteenth 
Century,  September,  1879. 

tThe  story  of  the  alleged  martyrdom  of  Vivia  Perpetua 
and  Felicitasin  Northern  Africa,  during  the  reign  of  Sep- 
timius  Severus,  though  usually  accepted  as  historical, 
bears  suggestions  of  its  apocryphal  character.  The  exact 
Dlace  of  their  martyrdom  is  uncertain;   the  testimony 


252        A    STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

During  the  reigns  of  Decius  and  Diocletian,  a 
more  general  opposition  was  stirred  up  against 
Christianity  than  at  any  previous  period.  An 
attempt  was  made  throughout  the  empire  to  sup- 
press the  churches,  and  prevent  the  further  spread 
of  the  faith.  Actual  violence,  however,  appears  to 
have  been  offered  only  to  the  bishops  and  leading 
ecclesiastics,  while  the  humbler  converts  were  sel- 
dom molested.  Numbers  of  the  clergy  doubtless 
suffered  imprisonment  and  death,  exactly  how 
many  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine.  The 
occasion  of  these  more  general  persecutions  is 
doubtless  to  be  discovered  in  the  increasing  claims 
of  the  new  religion  to  exclusive  recognition  and 
universal  supremacy, — claims  which  threatened  to 
override,  not  only  the  ancient  religion  of  the 
empire,  but  also  its  secular  authority.  Even 
Dean  Milman  refers  it  in  part  also  to  the 
relaxation  of  morals  in  the  Christian  communities, 
and  the  growth  of  the  spirit  of  ecclesiastical  domi- 
nation, with  its  accompanying  dissensions  and 
jealousies. 

Kxtcnt  of  the  Persecntions.— Exaggeration  of 
Ijater  Bistorians. 

In  reviewing  the  subject  of  the  persecution  and 
martyrdom  of  the  Christians  under  the  empire 
from  the  stand-point  of  an  impartial  investigator 
of  the  historical  evidence,  the  conclusion  is  un- 
avoidable that  the  extent  anc!  enormity  of  these 

of  the  Acta  Afartyrum  iq  of  doubtful  authenticity;  the 
very  minutiae  of  the  recital  sujrtrest  doubt  of  its  reality  ; 
while  the  names  <'Eternal  Life"  {Vivla  Porpetua)  aud 
"Happiness"  {Felidtas)  sugprest  an  allegorical  rather  than 
an  historical  interpretation  of  the  narrative. 


THE    MARTYR    PERIOD  253 

acts  of  the  Pagan  emperors  have  been  greatly 
exaggerated  by  Christian  historians  and  apolo- 
gists. Admitting  that  there  is  a  substantial  foun- 
dation for  the  charges  of  oppression,  violence,  and 
infliction  of  the  penalty  of  death  in  many  in- 
stances, these  enormities  sink  into  insignificance 
compared  with  those  perpetrated  by  Christian 
authority  in  later  times.  Gibbon  estimates  the 
total  number  of  the  martyrs  at  about  two  thou- 
tand,  and  asserts  that  "the  number  of  Protestants 
who  were  executed  by  the  Spaniards  during  a  single 
reign  and  in  a  single  province  far  exceeded  that 
of  the  primitive  martyrs  in  the  space  of  three 
centuries  of  the  Roman  Empire."  Niebuhr,  whose 
candor  and  impartiality  can  hardly  be  doubted, 
confirms  the  opinion  of  Dodwell  and  other  his- 
torians that  the  persecution  of  Galerius  and 
Diocletian,  generally  affirmed  to  be  the  most  gen- 
eral and  disastrous  of  all,  was  a  mere  shadow 
compared  with  the  persecution  of  the  Protestants 
in  the  Netherlands  by  the  Duke  of  Alva.  Accord- 
ing to  Grotius,  the  number  of  Dutch  martyrs  was 
at  least  one  hundred  thousand.  Motley  says  of 
these  persecutions :  "The  barbarities  committed 
amid  the  sack  and  ruin  of  those  blazing  and  starv- 
ing cities  are  almost  beyond  belief.  Unborn  infants 
were  torn  from  the  bodies  of  their  living  mothers, 
.  .  .  and  whole  populations  were  burned  and 
hacked  to  pieces  by  soldiers  in  every  mode  which 
cruelty  in  its  wanton  ingenuity  could  devise." 
The  Spanish  Inquisition,  during  the  eighteen  years 
of  Torquemada,  punished,  according  to  the  lowest 
estimate,  one  hundred  and  five  thousand  persons, 


254        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

of  whom  eight  thousand  eight  hundred  were  burnt 
alive. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Jews  of  Spain  and 
Russia  by  the  Christians  furnish  examples  of 
barbarity  and  wholesale  slaughter,  before  which 
even  the  crimes  of  Xero  pale  into  obscurity  and 
insignificance.  In  Andalusia,  two  thousand  Jews 
were  executed,  and  seventeen  thousand  otherwise 
punished,  in  a  single  year.  In  our  own  day,  the 
annals  of  Jewish  persecution  in  Russia  and  Bul- 
garia compare  in  infamy  with  the  recitals  of  the 
worst  atrocities  of  the  early  Christian  ages.  Rec- 
ollecting the  treatment  of  the  Indian  and  the 
negro  in  our  own  country,  American  Christians 
ought  in  all  decency  to  refrain  from  slandering 
the  memories  of  the  dead  Roman  emperors.  The 
Piegan  massacre,  in  which  an  entire  village  of  non- 
combatants — disabled  old  men,  women,  and  little 
children — were  put  to  the  sword  and  fire, — an  act 
to  this  day  neither  rebuked  nor  disavowed  by  the 
government, — closes  our  mouths  forever  from  the 
indiscriminate  censure  and  condemnation  of  Dio- 
cletian, Decius,  and  Marcus  Aurelius. 

General  Canseii  of  the  Persecutions* 

Bearing  in  mind  the  generally  conceded  policy 
of  toleration  toward  alien  religions  which  charac- 
terized the  government  of  the  Roman  Empire,  it  is 
of  great  interest  and  importance  to  account  for 
the  apparent  violation  of  this  policy  in  the  treat- 
ment of  the  Christians.  The  true  explanation  of 
the  proven  facts  of  the  martyr  period  appears  to 
lie  largely  in   the  charact^er  of  the  new  religion 


THE   MARTYR    PERIOD  255 

itself,  and  in  a  general  and  not  unnatural  miscon- 
ception of  some  of  its  noteworthy  customs,  ideas, 
anc*  dogmas  on  the  part  of  the  populace  and  those 
in  authority.  All  the  other  religions  which,  with 
the  growth  of  the  empire,  came  in  contact  with 
the  popular  faith  and  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
government,  were  ethnic  and  limited  in  their  sway, 
and  did  not  aim  at  universal  dominion.  Hence, 
they  were  mutually  tolerant  within  their  respective 
spheres.  Rome,  as  the  capital  of  the  empire,  rec- 
ognized and  to  some  extent  assimilated  them. 
Judaism  alone  of  the  older  faiths  was  intolerant, 
exclusive,  and  repelled  recognition  and  assimila- 
tion. Christianity  was  never  an  ethnic  religion  : 
'it  aimed  from  the  first  at  universal  dominion. 
From  its  very  nature,  it  could  admit  of  no  compro- 
mise with  the  idolatrous  Paganism  of  the  nations. 
It  resolutely  refused  to  be  combined  with  other 
faiths,  or  assimilated  into  the  eclectic  cultus  of  the 
capital.  It  resented  the  tolerance  and  indifference 
of  Rome  with  an  intolerant  demand  for  exclusive 
recognition. 

Erecting  no  altars  and  offering  no  sacrifices,  de- 
nying the  very  existence  of  the  gods  of  Rome,  meet- 
ing in  secrecy,  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  empire, 
admitting  none  save  those  who  had  been  united 
with  them  by  the  ordinance  of  baptism  to  partici- 
pation in  their  worship,  the  Christians  came  to  be 
regarded  naturally  and  not  without  reason  as  inim- 
ical to  the  popular  religion,  and  as  a  source  of 
danger  to  the  security  of  the  S^ate.  Exaggerated 
reports  concerniug  the  character  of  their  baptismal 
ceremony  and  their  "love-feasts"  not  unnaturally 


253         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

gave  rise  to  popular  suspicions  of  the  general  prev- 
alence of  immorality  in  the  Christian  communities. 
The  New  Testament  Epistles  and  patristic  writ- 
ings contain  abundant  evidence  that  these  sus- 
picions were  not  wholly  unwarranted.  Paul's 
doctrine  of  a  new  life  outside  the  sanctions  of  the 
law  was  doubtless  as  grievously  misinterpreted  in 
many  instances  as  were  the  ethical  precepts  of 
Epicurus.  This  fact  is  conceded  by  able  Chris- 
tian writers.  Prof.  Lindsay,  of  Glasgow  Univer- 
sity, says :  "In  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  we  find  evi- 
dence that  many  of  the  Gentile  Christians  were 
even  disposed  to  think  of  the  new  life  of  Christi- 
anity as  one  entirely  outside  the  realm  of  ordinary 
moral  law.  This  lawless  or  immoral  tendency 
was  strongly  checked  in  the  Christian  Church,  and 
only  gained  headway  in  the  sects  outside  of  it ; 
but  traces  of  the  tendency  are  not  infrequent." 

In  rightly  estimating  the  circumstances  of  the 
period  under  consideration,  however,  we  should  not 
forget  that  there  was  no  authoritative  Church  at 
this  time, — no  generally  recognized  consensus  of 
Christian  belief  and  practice, — but  only  as  yet  a 
number  of  distinct  and  unrelated  communities, 
differing  in  customs  and  in  doctrine,  but  all  claim- 
ing the  Christian  name.  Although  the  influence 
and  authority  of  the  Church  at  Rome  were  begin- 
ning to  be  recognized  by  a  considerable  portion  of 
these  communities,  and  the  orthodox  faith  was 
endeavoring  to  clarify  itself  from  the  heresies  of 
the  sects,  it  yet  lacked  the  power  to  enforce  its 
authority;  and,  so  far  as  the  general  public  could 
see  or  understand,  all  the  churches  claiming  the 


THE    MARTYR    PERIOD  257 

name  of  Christian  bad  an  equal  right  to  it.  Some 
of  the  Gnostic  sects  were  openly  given  to  immoral 
practices.  A  system  akin  to  Plato's  proposed  cus- 
tom of  '"complex  marriage"  prevailed  in  certain 
communities  claiming  the  Christian  name  ;  and  we 
even  have  authentic  testimony  to  the  fact  that  a 
bishop  held  a  view  of  the  obligations  of  Christian 
hospitality  which  involved  a  practical  recognition 
of  this  odious  system.*  Facts  of  this  kind,  though 
only  occasionally  coming  to  the  surface,  would 
naturally  prejudice  the  people  and  their  rulers 
against  the  entire  body  of  Christian  believers. 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  popular  miscon- 
struction of  the  doctrine  of  the  approaching  de- 
struction of  the  world  by  fire,  in  connection  with 
the  conflagration  at  Rome,  which  served  as  the 
excuse  for  the  persecutions  of  Nero.  In  a  like 
manner,  a  misunderstanding  of  the  Christian  sac- 
rament of  the  eucharist,  conceived  symbolically  or 
actually  as  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  doubt- 
less gave  rise  to  the  rumor  that  children  were  sac- 
rificed and  eaten  at  the  secret  evening  repasts.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  a  similar  slanderous  accusation 
has  often  been  the  occasion  of  Christian  persecu- 
tion of  the  Jews ;  and  this  belief  still  prevails 
among  the  ignorant  people  in  Russia,  Bulgaria, 
and  the  East.f 

•  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  vol.  iii.  By  Rev.  Dr. 
PhiUp  SchafE. 

t  "The  Christianity  which  the  emperors  aimed  at  repress- 
ing; was,"  says  Matthew  Arnold,  "in  their  conceptiou  of  it, 
something  philosophically  contempti'^le,  politically  sub- 
versive, and  morally  abominable.  As  men,  they  sincerely 
regarded  it  much  as  well-conditioned  people  among  us  re- 
gard Mormonism ;  as  rulers,  they  regarded  it  much  as  lib- 
eral statesmen  with  us  regard  the  Jesuits."— Essay  on 
Marcus  Aurelius. 


258         A    STUPY   OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

Tbe  ITIontanists :   Their  Beliefs  aud  Practices. 

Many  of  the  later  martyrs  were  affiliated  with 
the  peculiar  sect  known  as  Montanists,  from  oue 
Montanus,  their  founder,  a  native  of  Phrygia.  This 
sect  originated  about  the  middle  of  the  second 
century.  Its  doctrines  were,  in  some  respects,  a 
survival — in  others,  an  exaggeration  and  distortion 
— of  the  early  Christian  belief.  The  Montanists 
were,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  exact  counterparts 
of  the  Gnostics,  against  whose  peculiar  doctrines 
they  uttered  their  severest  protest.  They  believed 
in  the  continuance  of  the  miraculous  gifts  said  to 
have  been  possessed  by  Jesus  and  the  apostles,  in 
prophecy  by  supernatural  inspiration,  in  ecstasy 
and  "speaking  with  tongues,"  in  prolonged  fasting 
and  other  ascetic  observances.  In  opposition  to 
the  growing  power  of  the  presbyters  and  bishops, 
they  taught  the  doctrine,  naturally  drawn  from  the 
principles  of  Pharisaic  Judaism,  of  a  universal 
priesthood,  in  whose  raaks  they  even  included 
women.  They  saw  in  the  ecstatic  phenomena  of 
hysteria  the  manifestations  of  a  supernatural 
power.  In  some  respects,  the  Montanists  were  pro- 
totypes of  the  modern  Quakers,  believing  their 
"mediums"  or  prophets  to  be  the  immediate  recip- 
ients of  divine  inspiration.  They  retained  the 
primitive  Christian  anticipation  of  the  early  de- 
struction of  the  world,  aud  the  return  of  Christ 
in  glory  to  reign  over  a  regenerated  earth.  In 
praying,  "Thy  kingdom  come,"  they  therefore 
prayed  literally,  as  did  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  for 
the  end  of  the  world.  They  exercised  fanatical 
severity  in  discipline,  requiring  unmarried  women 


THE   MARTYR   PERIOD  259 

to  go  veiled,  forbiddiag  any  to  wear  ornaments  or 
any  save  the  plainest  and  simplest  clothing.  Tney 
regarded  marriage  as  merely  a  concession  to  the 
sensual  nature  of  man,  and  forbade  second  mar- 
riages as  adultery.  They  taught  the  impossibility 
of  a  second  repentance,  and  the  eternal  punish- 
ment of  the  unregenerate.  Tertullian,  one  of  their 
chief  representatives,  held  that  there  were  seven 
mortal  sins,  which,  if  committed  after  baptism, 
were  unpardonable,  and  doomed  the  sinner  to 
eternal  perditioo. 

These  fanatical  people,  with  their  hysterical 
visions  and  ecstasies,  their  secret  assemblies  and 
social  exclusiveness,  their  rigid  asceticism  and  irra- 
tional millennarianism,  were  regarded  by  the  popu- 
lace very  much  as  witches  and  professors  of  the 
"black  art"  were  looked  upon  daring  the  preva- 
lence of  the  witchcraft  delusion  in  Europe  and 
America.  The  educated  public  sentiment  of  the 
time  abhorred  the  professors  of  magic  and  sorcery  ; 
and,  while  not  sufficiently  comprehending  the 
method  of  science  to  regard  alleged  supernatural 
phenomena  as  the  result  of  fraud,  delusion,  or 
abnormal  physical  and  nervous  conditions,  they 
assigned  to  them  a  significance  and  an  origin 
wholly  evil,  and  regarded  their  practitioners  as 
worthy  of  condign  punishment. 

The  Christian  persecutions,  therefore,  were  a 
natural  consequence  of  ignorance,  credulity,  and 
superstition  on  both  sides.  While  the  Christians 
often  suffered  from  unjust  accusations,  and,  in 
the  persons  of  their  leaders,  probably  represented 
a  higher  standard  of  morality   than   that   which 


260         A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

generally  prevailed  ia  correspoudiug  social  circles 
in  Pagan  society,  on  the  other  hand,  individuals, 
and  even  entire  congregations,  were  open  to  just 
charges  of  immorality  an(?  gross  superstition.  It 
is  hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  indignation,  justly 
aroused  against  a  few,  should  often  expend  itself 
upon  those  who  were  blameless.  The  new  doc- 
trine, but  little  understood,  was  sometimes  con- 
demned, in  the  persons  of  its  most  worthy  de- 
fenders, for  evils  which  appeared  in  the  lives  of 
some  of  its  professors,  even  as  free  thought  and 
rational  religion  in  our  own  day  often  suffer  un- 
merited odium,  owing  to  the  unworthy  lives  of 
some  of  their  advocates. 


DeTelopment  of  Christian  Doctrine:  Incarnation 
and  Atonement. 

During  this  period,  two  leading  doctrines  of  the 
Christian  faith  took  form,  and  finally  became 
recognized  as  fundamental  to  the  Christian  sys- 
tem. These  were  the  doctrines  of  the  divine 
incarnation  and  atonement  for  sin  by  an  expiatory 
sacrifice,  involving  the  shedding  of  blood.  The 
latter,  prefigured  in  the  ancient  Hebrew  faith,  was 
no  less  also  a  doctrine  of  the  popular  Pagan  relig- 
ion. Personal  mutilation,  the  sacrifice  of  auimals, 
and  even  at  times  of  human  beings,  characterized 
a  certain  phase  in  the  development  of  nearly  all 
the  early  religions  of  the  world  ;  and,  accompany- 
ing these  rites,  we  find  the  belief  in  their  placat- 
ing or  atoning  efficacy.  One  of  these  rites,  often 
celebrated  at  this  period,  was  the  taurobolium,  or 


THE    MARTYR   PERIOD  261 

criobolium,  a  kind  of  baptism  in  the  blood  of   a 
sacrificed  bull  or  ram.     In  the  performance  of 
this  rite,  the  worshipper  stood  naked   beneath    a 
perforated  platform,  and  was  drenched  from  head 
to  foot  in  the  blood  of  the  slaughtered  animal. 
This  horrible  experience   was    thought  to  be    a 
certain  ransom    from    all    sin,   and  a  pledge  of 
happiness  in  the  life  to  come.     As  the  worshipper, 
reeking    with    the    deluge  of    blood,  passed  out 
through  the  crowd,   the    people    pressed    around 
him  to  win  some  share,  even  by  a  touch  of  the 
atoning  blood,  in  his  salvation  from  the  conse- 
quences of  sin.     The  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the 
blood  of  Christ  appropriately  took  form  during 
the  sanguinary  period  of  the  martyrs ;  and  Origen 
even   attributes    a    saving  efficacy  to  the    blood 
of  the  persecuted  followers  of  the  Nazarene,  of  a 
like  character  to  that  claimed  for  the  blood  of 

Christ. 

The  doctrine  of  the  incarnation  was  never  a 
Jewish  belief,  and  was  absorbed  by  Christianity 
directly  from  heathenism.  "We  have,  then,"  says 
Prof.  Allen,  "in  the  mind  of  Paganism  at  this 
epoch,  the  two  characteristic  religious  ideas  of 
the  age— incarnation  and  expiatory  sacrifice- 
distinctly  conceived  and  plainly  developed The 

important  thing  to  notice  of  them  is  that  they  are 
the  ideas  of  that  age.  They  are  not  peculiar  to 
Christianity:  it  would  be  truer  to  say  that,  in 
origin  and  essence,  they  are  rather  Pagan  than 
Christian.  That  they  had  a  powerful  effect  in 
shaping  the  Christian  belief  there  can  be  no  doubt. 
At  least,  they  predisposed  the  mind  of  the  Roman 


262        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHKISTIANIT^ 

world  to  accept  that  belief  so  broadly  and  so  easily 
as  it  did."  * 

Justiu  Martyr  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  the 
Christian  Fathers  to  place  especial  emphasis  upon 
the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  the  blood  of  Christ. 
He  also  recognized  the  likeness  of  the  Christian 
ceremony  of  the  eucharist  to  certain  heathen  rites. 
In  his  First  Apology,  he  says :  "Of  the  food 
called  by  us  Eucharist,  no  one  is  allowed  to  par- 
take but  him  who  believes  the  truth  of  our  doc- 
trineji,  and  who  has  been  washed  with  the  washing 
that  is  for  the  forgiveness  of  sins  and  to  regenera- 
tion, and  who  so  lives  as  Christ  has  directed.  For 
we  do  not  receive  them  as  ordinary  food  or  ordinary 
drink ;  but  as,  by  the  word  of  God,  Jesus  Christ, 
our  Saviour,  was  made  flesh,  ...  so  also  the  food 
which  was  blessed  by  the  prayer  of  the  Word 
which  proceeded  from  him  ...  is,  we  are  taught, 
both  the  flesh  and  blood  of  that  Jesus  who  was 
made  flesh. .  .  .  The  same  thing  in  the  mysteries 
of  Mithra,  also,  the  evil  demons  initiated  and 
caused  to  be  done ;  for  bread  and  a  cup  of  water 
are  placed  in  the  mystic  rites  for  one  who  is  to  be 
initiated,  with  the  addition  of  certain  words,  as 
you  know  or  may  learn."  In  his  dialogue  with 
the  Jew,  Trypho,  he  adduces  many  alleged  sym- 
bols of  the  blood  of  Christ  from  the  Hebrew 
writings  and  ceremonials,  arguing  particularly 
from  the  expression,  "washing  his  robe  in  the 
blood  of  the  grape,"  which  he  connects  with 
Jesus'  Oriental  and  symbolical  statement,  "This 
is  my  blood,"  that  Jesus  could  have  had  no  human 

*  Christian  History,  vol.  i.    "The  Mind  of  Paganism." 


THE    MARTYR   PERIOD 


263 


parentage,  but  was   iu  fact  the  son  of  that  God 
who  made  the  grape  and  the  vine. 

The  Christianity  of  this  period,  as  well  as  the 
apostolic  age,  was   deeply  tainted  with  irrational 
superstitions.    Justin  Martyr  was  a  firm  believer 
in  the  active  influence  of  demons  in  human  affairs. 
Athenagoras,  whom  Dr.  Jackson  alleges  to  have 
been  "the  superior  of  all  in  his  own  aget  in  liter- 
ary merit   and  broad  philosophical   culture,"  and 
who  wrote  "the  best  defence  of  the  Christians  of 
his  age,"*  alludes,  as  to  an  uncontradicted   fact, 
to  "the  angels  who  have  fallen   from  heaven  and 
haunt  the  air  and  the  earth,  and  are  no  longer 
able  to  rise  to  heavenly  things,  and  the  souls  of 
giants  who  are  the  demons  who  wander  about  the 
world."    Elsewhere,   in  the  tone  of  the  Persian 
dualism,  he  speaks  of  "the  Prince  of  Matter,  who 
exercises  a  control  and  management  contrary  to 
the  good  that  is  in  God." 

From  the  demonism  and  puerile  superstition  of 
the  Christian  Fathers,  mingled  though  it  is  with 
powerful  arguments  for  monotheism  and  against 
idolatry,  and  with  injunctions  for  a  higher  purity 
of  thought  and  life,  we  and  the  rational  world  will 
henceforth  turn  to  the  lofty  ethics,  the  pure  spirit 
uality,  the  refined  culture  and  noble  life  of  Marcu? 
Aurelius,  the  Stoic  emperor,  as  to  a  well  of  re- 
freshment after  passing  through   a  parched  and 
barren  desert.     Surely,  the  closer  we  approach  to 
the  source  of  that  religion  under  the  influence  of 
which  we  have  been  reared   and    nurtured,  the 
more  clearly  do  we  perceive  it  to  be  no  unique  or 
•  Christian  Literatvre  Primers. 


264         A    STUDY    OF    PRIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

iufallible  system  of  thought  and  belief,  but  rather 
of  like  texti.re  and  character  with  all  the  other 
religions  of  the  world.  It  is  divine  as  they  are 
divine, — as  the  world  and  all  things  therein  are 
divine, — and  no  otherwise.  It  is  human  as  they 
are  human,  fallible  as  they  are  fallible.  It  arof?o 
by  a  natural  process  of  evolution  out  of  pre-exist- 
ing systems,  to  complete  the  overthrow  of  the  pre- 
vailing though  effete  polytheistic  cultm,  and  to 
supplement  the  narrowness  and  partialism  of  the 
decaying  ethnic  religions  by  the  principles  of  uui- 
versalism  and  human  brotherhood.  la  the  pres- 
ence of  its  errors  and  its  superstitions,  and  equally 
of  the  good  that  is  in  it,  our  conceit  of  Christian 
infallibility  drops  away,  from  very  shame.  We 
can  doubt  no  longer  that  in  every  land  and  every 
faith  may  be  traced,  together  with  much  human 
imperfection,  the  working  of  the  Power  Eternal 
that  brings  beauty  from  ashes,  order  from  chaos, 
a  nobler  humanity  from  the  conflicts  of  the  ages, 
and  in  the  future  will  evolve  from  the  turmoil 
and  contradictions  of  our  present  social  order  a 
new  and  yet  diviner  manhood. 

In  looking  back,  finally,  over  the  period  now 
under  discussion,  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  suffer- 
ings and  deaths  of  the  Christian  martyrs  were 
powerfully  instrumental  in  promoting  and  estab- 
lishing the  new  religion.  This,  however,  is  a  phe- 
nomenon not  peculiar  to  any  single  form  of  faith. 
So  has  it  always  been  since  the  world  began. 
That  cause,  that  opinion,  for  which  people  willingly 
g've  their  lives,  is  ever  on  the  road  to  triumph. 


THE   MARTvp    PERIOD  265 

•'The  head  that  once  was  bowed  to  earth 

Up  in  the  heavens  now  towers, 
And  the  martyr  of  a  former  day 

Becomes  the  saint  of  ours. 
While  he  who  now,  denounced  and  scorned, 

Speaks  boldly  for  the  right. 
Shall  in  the  glorious  f  utu'"  shine 

A  prophet,  crowned  wiih  light. 



«<The  Man  rejected  and  despised 

Is  worshipped  and  adored. 
The  felon  scorned  and  crucified 

Becomes  a  glorious  God; 
And,  bright  with  gold,  that  blood-stained  cros8, 

The  emblem  once  of  shame. 
Raised  high  above  all  other  signs, 

Exalts  his  blessed  name. 
And  thus  the  truth,— the  hated  truth,— 

Each  day  still  mightier  grown, 
Doth  move  the  nations  by  its  power, 

And  make  the  world  its  own." 


2L 

CHRISTIANITY  THE  STATE  RELIGION. 

DiTorce   betiveen   the   Popular   Faith   and  SchO' 
lastic  Theology. 

The  student  of  the  ethnic  religions,  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  their  development,  must  often  have  noted 
the  fact  that  their  dogmatic  and  ritualistic  pecul- 
iarities, as  reported  in  their  sacred  literatures,  are 
frequently  artificial  accretions — the  speculative 
and  formal  productions  of  an  established  priest- 
hood— rather  than  genuine  presentations  of  the 
spontaneous  and  natural  faith  of  the  people.  The 
beliefs  and  practices  of  the  masses  often  have  very 
little  in  common  with  the  dogmas  and  ceremonies 
of  the  established  religion.  In  India,  for  many 
generations,  all  save  the  priestly  caste  were  for- 
bidden the  study  of  the  Vedas ;  and  recent  investi- 
gations of  able  scholars,  like  Barth  *  and  Haug,f 
would  assign  to  these  sacred  writings  a  priestly 
rather  than  a  popular  origin.  In  China,  Confu- 
cianism, with  its  remarkable  freedom  from  super- 
naturalism  and  its  pure  morality,  has  always  been 
the  religion  of  the  State  and  of  the  educated  classes, 
far  removed  from  the  superstitions  of  the  majority, 

•  Tfie  Beligions  of  India.    By  A.  Bartb. 
t  The  Religion  of  the  Parsis. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGICN  267 

Zoroastrianism  was  confessedly  a  religion  of  the 
priesthood.  Buddhism  has  its  esoteric  philosophy, 
its  refined  system  of  metaphysics,  remote  from 
its  popular  dogmas  and  from  the  noble  ethical 
teachings  of  its  founder.  Greece  and  Rome  had 
their  secret  rites  and  doctrines  for  the  few ;  while 
the  many  cultivated  the  religion  of  the  domestic 
altar,  and  fed  their  religious  natures  upon  super- 
stitions such  as  are  connected  with  all  primitive 
animistic  beliefs.  The  religion  of  Egypt  also 
presents  like  phenomena.  We  may  well  pause  a 
moment  to  inquire  whether  there  are  any  evidences 
of  a  similar  divorce  of  the  thought  of  the  educated 
few  from  the  lives  and  opinions  of  the  many  in 
the  history  of  primitive  Christianity. 

Testiinonr  of  the  Patristic  l<iteratare. 

If  we  were  to  look  for  evidence  solely  to  the 
literature  of  the  Fathers,  we  would  discover  no 
indications  of  such  a  divergence  between  the  popu- 
lar and  scholastic  beliefs.  These  writings  present 
only  one  side  of  the  question, — that  of  the  dog- 
matic theologian.  Here,  we  observe  a  steady 
tendency  toward  the  condemnation  and  elimina- 
tion of  heresies,  and  the  consolidation  of  that 
hierarchical  system  which  finally  triumphed  in  the 
supremacy  of  the  Catholic  Church.  In  Irenaeus, 
writing  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  second 
century,  we  find  nearly  all  the  Christian  dogmas 
fully  developed.  The  divine  incarnation,  the 
miraculous  birth,  the  sacrificial  eucharist  regarded 
as  the  actual  flesh  and  blood  of  Jesus,  the  belief 
in  the  second    coming    of    ChrLst,   the  vicarious 


268         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CURISTIANITT 

atonement,  apostolic  succession,  and  the  eterna. 
punishment  of  unbelievers, — all  these  doctrines  are 
plainly  set  forth  in  his  writings.  Origen,  writing 
about  the  middle  of  the  third  century,  did  indeed 
suggest  the  possible  salvation  of  all  men ;  but  his 
belief,  borrowed  probably  from  Oriental  sources, 
was  exceptional  and  heretical.  The  teachings  of 
Christian  scholars  tended  more  and  more  to  a 
consensus  of  agreement  upon  the  principal  articles 
of  their  faith.  The  supreme  emphasis  came  to 
be  placed  upon  "right  belief,"  upon  intellectual 
dogma,  rather  than  upon  the  ethical  quality  of  the 
daily  life.  In  defence  of  these  dogmas,  the  leaders 
of  the  Church  were  ready  to  anathematize  and 
persecute  the  heretics  of  their  own  communion,  or 
to  offer  up  their  lives  as  martyrs  rather  than 
accede  to  the  demand  of  the  State  that  they  should 
renounce  their  creed,  and  offer  sacrifice  to  the  gods 
of  Rome. 

The  Catacombs:  their  Sisuiflcant  Testimony. 

It  is,  nevertheless,  true  that  we  have  conclusive 
evidence  that  the  belief  of  the  majority  was  widely 
different  from  that  which  is  revealed  to  us  in 
Christian  literature.  As  the  Egyptian  tombs,  with 
their  sculptures  and  paintings,  testify  to  the  habits 
and  ideas  of  that  ancient  people,  correcting  the 
long  prevalent  opinion  derived  from  their  later 
theology  that  they  were  of  a  gloomy  and  ascetic 
disposition,  so  in  the  sculptures  and  mural  paint- 
ings of  the  catacombs  we  discover  the  natural 
historical  corrective  of  the  one-sided  evidence  pre- 
sented in  the  writings  of  the  theologians. 

The    catacombs  were    subterranean    places    of 


CHRISTIANITY   THE    STATE    RELIGION  269 

burial  of  great  extent.  From  a  single  central  hall, 
or  chamber,  radiated  labyrinthine  passages  contain- 
ing many  places  of  sepulture,  each  of  which,  when 
occupied,  was  sealed  up,  and  identified  by  mural 
paintings  or  sculptures  and  suitable  ii  3criptions. 
This  use  of  the  catacombs  by  the  Christians  dated 
from  the  beginning  of  the  second  century,  and 
continued  until  early  in  the  fifth  century.  In 
their  central  halls  and  subterranean  passages,  also, 
for  many  generations,  they  were  accustomed  to 
meet  secretly  for  religious  purposes.  Later,  when 
there  was  no  longer  any  need  of  secrecy  connected 
with  the  ceremonials  of  burial  and  religious  meet- 
ings, the  catacombs  fell  into  disuse ;  and  from  the 
sixth  to  the  fourteenth  century  they  were  buried 
and  forgotten.  Even  our  modern  historians  have 
in  general  neglected  to  note  the  remarkable  and 
invaluable  testimony  of  the  catacombs  to  the  pop- 
ular beliefs  of  the  early  Christian  centuries. 

This  testimony,  it  will  be  observed,  is  contem- 
poraneous with  the  period  of  the  development  of 
the  dogmatic  theology,  with  the  contest  of  Chris- 
tianity with  Orientalism  and  the  Gnostic  heresies, 
and  with  the  Christian  martyrdoms;  yet  we  find 
here  few  evidences  that  these  circumstances  and 
ideas  materially  affected  the  lives  and  thought  of 
the  masses  of  the  people.  A  remarkable  inscription 
at  the  entrance  of  the  catacomb  of  St.  Sebastian 
in  Rome  affirms,  indeed,  that  one  hundred  and 
seventy-four  thousand  martyrs  repose  there  in 
peace ;  but  the  absence  of  other  corroborative  tes- 
timony, and  the  conflicting  evidence  of  the  inscrip- 
tions   on    the    tombs    themselves,  justify    us    in 


270        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAMTY 

regarding  this  as  a  theological  exaggeration  of  a 
later  period.  All  the  Christians  who  died  during 
the  time  of  the  persecutions  appear  to  have  been 
regarded  subsequently  as  "martyrs,"  though  they 
did  not  personally  suffer  the  punishment  of  death. 
The  estimate  of  Gibbon,  referred  to  in  our  last 
lecture,  is  doubtless  much  nearer  the  truth  of 
history  than  this  pious  exaggeration.* 

Character  of  the  Mural  Paintings^ 

One  familiar  with  the  patristic  literature  is  at 
once  struck  by  the  apparently  incongruous  fact 
that  paintings  and  artistic  representations  are  to 
be  found  at  all  upon  Christian  tombs  of  this 
period.  The  early  Fathers  of  the  Church  almost 
without  exception  followed  the  Jewish  prejudice, 
and  condemned  art  as  impious  and  sacrilegious. 
The  general  character  of  these  burial-places  is 
Jewish  rath-er  than  Pagan,  but  the  artistic  de- 
velopment connected  therewith  is  distinctively 
Pagan.  "It  is  as  if  the  popular  sentiment  had  not 
only  run  counter  to  the  popular  theology,"  says 
Dean  Stanley,  "but  had  been  actually  ignorant  of 
it."t  The  subjects  of  these  artistic  representar 
tions,  thou-gh  frequently  drawn  from  Hebrew  or 
Christian  legends,  are  almost  wholly  ignored  by 
contemporary  Christian  writers.    The  prevailing 

♦For  an  interesting  account  of  the  catacombs  of  tho 
earlier  period,  see  Stanley's  Christian  Institutions;  for  a 
general  description,  see  also  article  "Catacombs,"  Ency- 
clopaedia Britannica,  Milman's  History  of  Christianity, 
etc.  The  inscription  above  alluded  to  was  manifestly 
engraved  after  the  catacomb  had  bf-en  fully  occupied,  and 
had  fallen  into  disuse.  Its  use  of  the  word  "martyr"  does 
not  indicate  that  all  or  any  considerable  portion  of  the 
inmates  suffered  a  violent  death. 

t  Christian  Institutions. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE    RELIGION  271 

character  of  the  early  theological  writings  is  arid, 
gloomy,  and  repelling;  but  the  art  of  the  earlier 
catacombs  is  uniformly  cheerful  and  joyous.  In  the 
oldest  mural  paintings,  we  find  neither  the  cross  of 
the  fifth  and  sixth  centuries,  nor  the  crucifix  or  cru- 
cifixion of  the  later  Catholic  period,  nor  the  cypress, 
skeletons,  and  death's  heads  of  a  still  more  recent 
time.  In  the  place  of  these  "sad  emblems  of  mor- 
tality," there  are  wreaths  of  roses,  vines  and 
clusters  of  grapes,  winged  genii,  and  playing  chil- 
dren. 

Of  Old  Testament  subjects,  we  find  representa- 
tions of  the  creation,  the  salvation  of  Isaac  from 
sacrifice,  the  stag  panting  for  the  water-brooks, 
Moses  smiting  the  rock  for  water,  Jonah  and  the 
whale,  Jonah  and  the  gourd,  Daniel  in  the  lions' 
den,  the  three  children  in  the  fiery  furnace,  and 
Susanna  and  the  elders ;  of  New  Testament  subjects, 
the  raising  of  Lazarus,  the  adoration  of  the  magi, 
the  feeding  of  the  multitude,  Zaccheus  in  the  syca- 
more tree,  the  healing  of  the  paralytic,  the  washing 
of  Pilate's  hands,  and  the  denial  and  seizing  of 
Peter.  A  figure  representing  the  deceased  in  the 
Oriental  attitude  of  prayer,  standing  erect,  with 
hands  outstretched  to  receive  the  gifts  of  heaven, 
and  with  open  eyes,  is  of  very  common  occurrence. 
Even  more  perfect  representations  of  this  posture  in 
adoration  are  found  in  heathen  art  of  this  period. 
The  description  of  one  of  these  might  equally  well 
be  applied,  says  Dean  Stanley,  to  the  painting  on 
the  catacomb  of  St.  Priscilla :  "His  eyes  and  arms 
are  raised  to  heaven ;  perfect  in  humanity,  beneath 
the  lightsome  vault  of  heaven  he  stands,  and  prays, 


272        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

— no  adoration  with  veiled  eyes  and  muttering 
lips,  no  prostration  with  the  putting  off  of  sandals 
on  holy  g:ound,  no  genuflexion  like  the  bending 
of  a  reed  waving  in  the  wind,  but  such  as  lamus 
in  the  mid-waves  of  Alpheius  might  have  prayed 
when  he  heard  the  voice  of  Phoebus  calling  to 
him,  and  promising  to  him  the  twofold  gift  of 
prophecy."*  The  conception  of  prayer  herein 
typified,  so  different  from  that  which  pessimistic 
asceticism  transmitted  to  us  through  the  Roman 
hierarchy,  is  one  among  many  evidences  which  the 
catacombs  present  to  us  of  the  close  relation  which 
the  popular  phase  of  primitive  Christianity  bore  to 
the  milder  forms  of  Paganism  in  the  midst  of 
which  it  had  its  being. 

Beatheu  and  Chriatian  Syiubolism  conuuingle. 

Many  of  the  decorations  of  the  Christian  tombs 
were  borrowed  directly  from  heathen  sources. 
Here  we  find  Orpheus  playing  on  his  harp  to  the 
beasts,  the  infant  Bacchus  represented  as  the  god 
of  the  vintage,  and  the  winged  Psyche,  symbol  of 
the  soul.  The  soul  itself  is  often  pictured  escaping 
from  the  body  ia  the  form  of  a  bird.  Christian 
and  heathen  symbolism  are  frequently  mingled  in 
the  same  picture :  e.g.,  the  Good  Shepherd  appears 
surrounded  by  the  three  Graces;  Apollo  with  his 
pipes  often  seems  to  have  served  as  the  model  for 
the  gracious  figure  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth.  More 
frequently  than  any  other  impersonation  that  of 

•Quoted  by  Dean  Stanley  in  Christian  Institutions. 
Those  who  listened  to  the  discourses  of  the  eloquent 
Hindu,  Protap  Chunder  Mozoomdar,  during  his  recent 
visit  to  this  country,  will  remember  that  he  assumed  this 
Oriental  posture  d  iring  prayer. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  273 

the  Good  Shepherd  appears  ia  the  paintings  of  the 
catacombs, — a  graceful  form  in  the  bloom  of  youth, 
with  pipe  or  crook,  strikingly  similar  to  the 
Hermes  Kriophorus,  "Mercury  with  the  ram," — a 
common  figure  in  the  heathen  art  of  the  time. 
Sometimes,  he  is  represented  as  bearing  a  lamb  in 
his  arms.  Once  even,  in  defiance,  not  only  of  the 
orthodox  dualism,  but  in  apparent  ignorance  of 
the  sharp  distinction  conveyed  in  words  attributed 
to  Jesus  himself,  instead  of  a  lamb  we  find  pict- 
ured a  young  goat,  a  kid.  This  incident,  and  the 
divorce  which  it  indicates  between  the  theology  of 
the  polemical  writers  and  the  simple  beliefs  of  the 
people,  are  beautifully  treated  in  the  familiar  poem 
of  Matthew  Arnold : — 

"'He  saves  the  sheep,  the  goats  he  doth  not  save'  ; 
So  spake  the  fierce  Tertullian. 

But  she  sighed, 
The  infant  Church.    Of  love  she  felt  the  tide 
Stream  on  her  from  the  Lord's  yet  recant  grave, 
And  then  she  smiled,  and  in  the  Catacombs, 
"With  eye  suffused,  but  heart  inspired  true. 
She  her  Good  Shepherd's  hasty  image  drew, 
And  on  his  shoulder  not  a  lamb,  but  kid." 

■  iwcriptioas:    Summary^  of    the    Evldeace  of   the 
Catacombs. 

The  character  of  the  earlier  inscriptions  of  the 
catacombs  harmonizes  with  their  artistic  symbolism. 
Of  dogma,  we  find  absolutely  nothing.  Of  purely 
religious  phrases,  two  notable  expressions  frequently 
recur:  Inpace,  "In  peace";  and  Five m Deo, "Live in 
God."  Sometimes,  we  find  Vive  in  Bono,  "Live  in 
the  Grood."  Most  frequent  of  all  the  inscriptions, 
however,  are  simple  expressions  of  natural  affection, 


274        A    STUi>Y   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

exhibiting  no  theological  bias  whatever :  "My  most 
sweet  wife" ;  "My  most  dear  husband" ;  "My  well- 
deserving  father  and  mother";  "My  most  sweet 
child";  "Innocent  little  lamb."  In  one  place,  we 
read  that  a  husband  and  wife  "lived  together  with- 
out any  complaint  or  quarrel,  without  taking  or  giv- 
ing offence."  The  simplicity  of  these  inscriptions 
is  evidence  of  a  sincerity  and  truthfulness  that  it  is 
to  be  feared  are  sometimes  wanting  in  the  elaborate 
eulogies  of  our  modern  churchyard  literature.  Of 
the  heathen  monuments  of  this  period.  Prof.  Allen 
declares,  "The  inscriptions  sometimes  express  a 
pious  and  humble  trust  in  terms  curiously  like 
those  of  the  Christian  monuments."*  In  the  pres- 
ence of  a  great  and  impressive  event,  a  common 
human  nature  stands  revealed  behind  the  masques 
of  the  most  varying  creeds. 

To  sum  up  this  testimony  of  the  early  catacombs, 
it  may  be  said  that  we  find  here  no  elaborate 
Christology,  no  deification  of  Jesus,  no  trinitarian 
dogma,  no  horror  of  eternal  punishment,  no  theol- 
ogy even,  save  the  simplest  expression  of  theism. 
We  find  evidence  of  a  Christianity  scarcely  differ- 
entiated from  the  surrounding  Paganism,  save 
in  its  disuse  of  polytheistic  symbols ;  but  little 
affected  by  theological  controversies  or  state  per- 
secutions; cherishing  gladly  a  simple  trust  in  the 
leadership  of  that  Good  Shepherd  in  whose  fold 
there  was  no  distinction  of  birth,  of  riches,  or  of 
social  position. 

Differentiation  of    Chriatiauitf  from   Paeanism. 

There  thus  seem  to  be  many  points  of  agreement 
between  the  popular  conception  of   Christianity 

•  Christian  History.    By  Joseph  Henry  Allen. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE    STATE    RELIGION  275 

and  the  cou temporary  Paganism,  the  chief  differ- 
ence, superficially  noticeable,  appearing  to  be  that 
from  the  former  all  polytheistic  implications  were 
excluded.  Wherein,  then,  shall  we  find  the  secret 
of  their  divergence?  Wherein,  the  motive  of  the 
impulse  which  led  the  devotees  of  the  new  faith  to 
forsake  and  contemn  the  old?  What  elements 
can  we  discover,  held  in  common  by  all  the  Chris- 
tian believers  of  this  period,  which  will  account  for 
the  rapid  progress  of  the  new  religion,  and  for  the 
general  favor  with  which  it  was  greeted  by  the 
common  people? 

Evidently,  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of 
the  growing  faith  were  not  those  of  notable  moral 
superiority.  The  careful  student  of  this  period  can 
hardly  fail  to  confirm  the  conclusion  of  Dr.  Hedge, 
that  the  primitive  Church  did  not  aim  primarily  at 
good  behavior.  "Had  this  been  the  end,"  he 
declares,  "there  would  have  been  a  rapid  and 
marked  improvement  in  the  morals  of  society. 
But  no  such  improvement  appears."*  The  admo- 
nitions of  Paul  and  of  the  Fathers  prove,  on  the 
contrary,  that  the  worst  of  social  conditions  were 
not  uncommon  within  the  bosom  of  the  Christian 
communities.  That  feature  in  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  and  the  apostles  which  avoided  conflict  with 
the  constituted  authorities  by  inculcating  the 
doctrine  of  non-resistance ;  which  regarded  a  tem- 
porary submission  to  social  injustices  as  preferable 
to  active  protest  and  forceful  opposition,  in  view 
of  the  speody  destruction  of  the  existing  order  of 

•  Article  "Christianity  in  Conflict  with  Hellenism,"  in 
Unitarian  Review.    By  F  rederic  Henry  Hedge,  D.D. 


276         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

the  world,— lent  itself  readily  to  the  methods  of 
designing  theologians,  and  retarded  the  practical 
application  of  the  ethical  principles  of  the  Gospels 
in  the  reorganization  of  society.  One  principle 
there  was,  however,  which  was  so  interwoven  with 
the  fundamental  universalism  of  the  new  faith 
that  it  could  not  be  kept  wholly  in  abeyance,— the 
new  and  radical  social  doctrine  of  the  equality  of 
all  men  in  the  sight  of  God,  the  foundation  of  the 
Christian  socialism  of  the  Gospels,  which  was  so 
mighty  a  power  to  bring  hope  and  better  promise 
for  the  future  to  the  poor,  the  weary,  and  the 
heavy-laden.  Where,  if  not  in  this  new  social 
doctrine,  shall  we  look  for  the  impulse  which  car- 
ried the  new  faith  onward  through  this  troubled 
period  of  its  infancy  to  its  final  triumph?  The 
practical  communism  of  the  earliest  generations  * 
was  indeed  modified  by  the  necessities  of  living 
and  laboring  in  the  midst  of  an  antagonistic  social 
order,  but  the  great  hope  for  the  future  endured. 
The  kingdom  of  heaven  was  yet  anticipated  upon 
a  regenerated  earth.     Here  and  there,  the  new  doc- 

*  "The  early  Christian  communism  was  an  expression  of 
the  essential  spirit  of  original  Christianity,  not  an  accident, 
as  many  students  of  the  Bible  would  have  us  believe. 
Other  incidents  of  this  story  are  unintelligible,  except  as 
they  presuppose  this  curious  state  of  things.  In  that 
dreadful  legend  of  the  early  Cliristiau  community  which 
is  embodied  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  we  find  Peter  exercising 
his  supposed  supernatural  powers  to  strike  dead  Ananias 
and  Sapphira  for  their  lies.  Apart  from  the  miracle  in- 
volved, the  feeling  of  Peter  is  ethically  incomprehensible, 
until  we  remember  that  their  lying  words  covered  actions 
■which  involved  disloyalty  to  the  fundamental  institution 
of  that  early  society.  They  had  vowed  their  goods  to  the 
little  Christian  commune,  and  had  kent  back  a  part  of  the 
price.  Their  action  was  a  fatal  blow  to  the  essential  life  of 
the  community.  Therefore,  a  singular  manifestation  of  the 
effect  of  the  first  outpouring  of  the  divine  Siiirit  in  the 
Christian  Church  was  commuaisra."— ifev.  R.  Heber  Newton, 
in  discourse  preached  May  24, 1885. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  277 

trine  reacted  upon  existing  social  conditions,  tend- 
ing to  reduce  the  barriers  between  classes  and  to 
improve  the  condition  of  the  toiling  poor.  We 
may  instance  such  evidences  of  this  tendency  as 
are  presented  in  the  story  of  one  Hermas,  a  wealthy 
convert  of  the  time  of  Trajan,  who  received  bap- 
tism at  an  Easter  festival,  with  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, and  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  slaves,  upon 
whom  he  subsequently  bestowed  their  freedom, 
and  gifts  of  money  and  property.  One  Chroma- 
tins, also,  in  the  reign  of  Diocletian,  is  said  to  have 
had  fourteen  hundred  slaves  baptized  with  himself, 
after  which  they  were  emancipated.* 

The  new  faith,  sustained  by  the  hope  of  the 
coming  recognition  of  human  brotherhood,  presses 
onward  to  its  secular  triumph.  We  are  now  to 
follow  it,  under  the  lead  of  Constautine,  its  great 
protector,  to  the  throne  of  the  Caesars.  But,  in 
this  immense  secular  gain,  how  much  is  involved 
of  loss,  how  much  of  this  primitive  simplicity,  this 
freedom  from  dogmatism,  this  capacity  for  assimi- 
lating the  better  elements  of  the  existing  social 
order  1  The  spirit  of  equality  will  retire  yet 
further  into  obscurity,  giving  place  to  the  rule  of 
a  despotic  hierarchy.  Heathen  art,  at  first  popu- 
larly   welcomed    to    express    the    feelings    of    a 

*  One  can  hardly  wonder  that  the  poor  were  ready  to 
make  any  change  in  their  religion  which  promised  to  im- 
prove their  social  condition.  Thi3  wholesale  baptism  of 
slaves,  however,  throws  a  curious  light  upon  the  methods 
by  which  Christianity  was  so  rapidly  extended.  It  recalls 
the  story  of  an  army  officer  during  the  War  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, who,  on  hearing  of  the  conversion  of  thirty  men  in  a 
rival  regiment,  under  the  exhortations  of  a  revivalist,  not 
to  be  outdone,  ordered  his  corporal  to  detail  at  once  a  file 
ot  forty  men  for  baptism  !  The  incidents  above  narrated 
are  recorded  in  Dr.  Philip  SchafE's  History  of  the  Christian 
Church. 


278        A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

commou  humanity,  will  be  condemned  and  pro- 
hibited as  impious.  The  Good  Shepherd,  the 
joyous  and  beautiful  figure  of  the  earliest  Chris- 
tian conception,  will  give  place  to  the  Man  of 
Sorrows,  "with  marred  visage."  The  "life  in 
God,"  after  the  death  of  the  body, — the  peaceful 
rest  for  the  weary, — will  give  way  to  the  pictured 
horrors  of  eternal  torment.  Dogmatic  theology, 
at  last  triumphant,  will  touch  and  blight  even  the 
lives  and  hopes  of  the  common  people.  Slavery  of 
the  body  will  give  place  to  a  profounder  enslave- 
ment and  degradation  of  the  intellect  and  reason, 
— a  mental  bondage  for  ages  so  complete  that  no 
Christian  Epictetus  shall  arise  to  assert,  "Although 
I  am  a  slave,  I  also  am  a  man."  Europe,  held  in 
the  iron  embrace  of  an  omnipotent  ecclesiasticism, 
will  hurry  forward  to  the  gloom  of  the  Dark  Ages 

"  'Tls  true  'tis  pity, 
And  pity  'tis  'ti3  true." 

From  ITlarciiiit  Aurelina  to  Couxrautiue* 

The  period  from  the  time  of  Marcus  Aurelius  to 
the  final  secular  triumph  of  Christianity  under 
Constantino,  though  it  included  the  era  of  perse- 
cution, was  marked  by  a  steady  increase  in  the 
number  of  Christian  communities,  by  a  growing 
boldness  of  the  polemical  writers  in  defence  of  the 
new  theology,  and  also  by  certain  notable  indica- 
tions that  the  new  faith  was  coming  to  be  regarded 
as  a  possible  factor  of  strength  to  the  imperial 
government,  in  case  it  could  be  assimilated  and 
directed  to  its  support.  For  good  or  ill,  Chris- 
tianity had  become  a  recognized  political  power. 


CHRISTIANITY    THE    STATE   RELIGIOX  279 

It  must  either  be  systematically  opposed  and 
undermined,  or  accepted,  and  placed,  if  not  above, 
at  least  upon  an  equality  with  the  existing  Pagan 
cultus.  Considerations  of  state  policy  lather  than 
of  moral  or  religious  principle  appear  to  have 
actuated  the  successive  wielders  of  the  imperial 
power  in  their  treatment  of  the  growing  faith. 
If  any  among  them  were  influenced  by  higher 
motives  than  those  of  selfish  aggrandizement,  it 
was  the  great  Stoic  emperor,  Marcus  Aurelius,  and 
Julian,  whom  Christian  prejudice  has  named  "the 
Apostate,"  but  whose  attempt  to  revive  and  purify 
the  Pagan  religion  appears  to  have  been  actuated 
by  a  sincere  abhorrence  of  what  he  deemed  the 
errors  and  superstitions  of  Christianity.*  Neither 
Constantino  nor  those  earlier  emperors,  who  vouch- 
safed a  juasi-recognition  of  the  government  to  the 
new  faith  by  attempting  to  fuse  it  with  Paganism, 
give  evidence  of  a  tithe  of  the  sincerity  and  high- 
minded  patriotism  which  impartial  history  concedes 
to  Marcus  and  to  Julian. 

The  limits  of  this  discussion  forbid  a  detailed 
examination  of  the  relations  of  the  individual  em- 
perors to  Christianity.  We  must  hasten  on  to 
the  period  of  its  secular  triumph.  Maximin,  the 
predecessor  of  Constantino  and  Maxentius,  was 
a  man  of  dissolute  and  tyrannical  character,  whose 
early  attitude  toward  Christianity  was  that  of  a 
persecutor.  He  prohibited  the  Christians  from 
meeting  in  the  cemeteries  and  catacombs,  as  had 
long  been  their  custom ;  he  confiscated  the  prop- 

•"The  Emperor  Julian's  watchword  was,  'The  worship 
of  the  gods:  uo  worship  of  dead  vaen.' " —Seeley,  Homan 
Imperialism. 


280        A   STUDY   OP   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITT 

erty  of  the  churches,  waged  war  with  the  Christian 
State  of  Armenia,  and  even  atttempted  to  reor- 
ganize the  Pagan  religion  upon  the  model  of  the 
Christian  episcopacy.  Toward  the  close  of  his 
life,  however,  he  apparently  became  convinced, 
not  indeed  of  the  moral  error,  but  more  probably 
of  the  impolicy  of  this  course  of  action.  He 
issued  an  edict  of  toleration,  and  commanded  a 
cessation  of  all  violent  methods  of  persecution, 
recommending  only  the  milder  measures  of  per- 
suasion to  win  back  the  Christians  to  the  faith  of 
their  fathers.  His  last  imperial  act  was  the  pro- 
mulgation of  an  edict  which  restored  to  the 
churches  their  confiscated  property,  and  proclaimed 
complete  liberty  of  conscience  in  matters  of 
religion  throughout  the  empire.  The  subsequent 
course  of  his  successor  was  therefore  no  abrupt 
and  revolutionary  change  in  the  policy  of  the 
government. 

The  Character  and  Auilude  of  Conslantine. 

The  reign  of  Constantine  witnessed  the  practi- 
cal dissolution  of  the  Roman  Empire  by  the 
removal  of  the  capital  to  the  Bosphorus,  and  the 
secular  triumph  of  Christianity.  As  a  political 
leader,  a  ruler  of  men,  a  captain  of  armies,  this 
emperor  well  merits  the  title  of  "the  Great."  As 
an  exemplar  of  religion  and  morals,  he  better 
merits  the  title  of  "the  Infamous."  He  shrunk 
from  no  crime  which  seemed  requisite  to  the 
furtherance  of  his  insatiable  ambition.  Upon  his 
hands  was  the  blood  of  the  weak  and  innocent  as 
well  as  of  his  enemies  in  war,— of  his  own  flesh  and 


CHRISTIANITY    THE    STATE    RELIGION 


281 


blood  as  well  as  of  the  stranger.    "His  father-in-law, 
his  brother-in-law,  Liciuius,  his  own  son,  Cnspus, 
his  nephew,  the  son  of  Licinius,  a  boy  eleven  years 
old,  and,  lastly,  his  wife,  Fausta,  were  his  vic- 
tims."    Such  a  man  could  in  no  high  or  spiritual 
sense  have  been  converted  to  the  simple,  childlike 
faith,  the  ideal  socialistic  system,  of  the  Man  of 
Nazareth.    It  was  the  mythical  Christ,  and  not  the 
human  Jesus,  the  Prophet  of  Righteousness,  who 
commanded  his  allegiance.    If  anything  m  Chris- 
tian doctrine  attracted  his  intellect,  it  was,  doubtless, 
the  convenient  dogma  of  substitution  and  aton^ 
ment,  which  appealed  to  his  supreme  egoism  and 
selfish   dread  of  that  unknown  future  which  the 
great  emperor  as  well  as  the  least  of  mankind  was 
finally  compelled  to  face.      Not   until    the  very 
close  of  his  career,  and  upon  his   death-bed,  did 
he  profess  repentance,  and  submit  to   Christian 
baptism,-an  ordinance  which,  in   the  prevailing 
superstitious  belief  of  the  Christians,  was  efficar 
cious  in  sweeping  away  the  penalty  of  all  previous 

sins. 

Constantine's  services  to  the  Church  were  ren- 
dered while  he  was  in  the  midst  of  his  crimes, 
and  before  he  had  formally  renounced  the  Pagan- 
ism of  which  he  continued   to  be  the  PonUfex 
Maxmus,-the  legal    and    recognized    head    and 
chief     The  story  of  his  conversion  to  Christian- 
ity by  a  miraculous  vision  of  the  cross  appears 
to  rest  wholly  upon  his  own  testimony.     An  ex- 
treme  exercise  of  charity  might  lead  us  to  inter- 
pret  this  alleged  experience  as  a  subjective  illu- 
sion, similar  to  Paul's  vision  of  the  resurrected 


282        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHKISTIANITY 

Jesus.  More  probably,  however,  it  should  be 
classed  among  pioas  frauds,  and  regarded  as  a 
pure  invention  of  the  emperor  for  the  purpose  of 
conciliating  the  Christians  to  his  support. 

Coustantine's  Eclecticism :  His  Berogaitou  of 
Pagauism. 

Constanline    founded    a   number  of    Christian 
churches  in   Rome,  contributed  to  their  support 
from  the  public  revenues,  and  even  set  apart  a 
basilica  within  the  Lateran  palace  as  a  place  for 
Christian  worship.     Side  by  side  with  these  tem- 
ples of  the  new  religion,  however,  the  worship  of 
Cybele    and    the  other  Pagan    deities  continued 
unopposed  even  as  late  as  the  fifth  century, — a 
hundred  years  after  the  recognition  of  Christianity 
by  the  empire.     In  Constantinople,  the  new  capi- 
tal, Constantino  not  only  erected  several  Christian  - 
churches,  but  also  a  temple  to  Rhea,  the  mother  - 
of  the  gods,  one  to  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  one  to  • 
Tyche,  the  fortune  of  the  city.    Christian  histo- 
rians have  claimed  for  him  the  credit  of  being  the 
first  to  grant  authoritative  recognition  of  Sunday 
as  the  Sabbath,  but  the  edict   commanding  its 
celebration   makes  no   allusion   to  the  day  as   a 
Christian  institution.    It  was  still  devoted  to  the 
worship  of  the  conquering   solar  deity.     Apollo, 
Bacchus,  Mithra,  and  Osiris  had    long  received 
honor  as  incarnations  of  the  sun-god.     To  these, 
the  emperor,  and  apparently  the   popular  senti- 
ment, now  added  Jesus, — a  circumstance  the  more 
natural  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  popular  Chris- 
tian  mythology,  now  fully  developed,  had  drawn 


CHRISTIANITY   THE    STATE    UELIGION  283 

many  of  its  characteristic  features  from  the  solar 
mythus.  The  25th  of  December  was  set  apart  as 
the  birthday  of  the  founder  of  Christianity ;  and 
the  first  day  of  the  week  became  a  holy  day, 
devoted  to  his  worship,— a  common  inheritance 
from  the  heathen  cultus  of  the  solar  deity.  About 
the  same  time  that  the  public  recognition  of 
Sunday  was  made  obligatory,  Constantine  issued 
orders  to  the  haruspices  to  continue  the  heathen 
practice  of  divination  on  one  or  more  notable  occa- 
sions. He  also  placed  the  image  of  Apollo  and  ^ 
the  name  of  Jesus  together  on  his  coins. 

The  Worship  of  the  Emperor  authorizetl  aud 
continued  by  Constanlioe. 

The  worship  of  the  Emperor,  inaugurated  by 
the    Caesars,  still    continued,   and    received    new 
impetus  and  recognition  at  the  hands  of  Constan- 
tine.    He  went  further  than  any  of  his  predeces- 
sors in  providing  for  his  own  post-mortem  adora- 
tion,   ordaining     that     thereafter,     annually,    a 
golden    statue  of   himself    should    be  carried  in 
solemn  procession  through  the   streets  of   Rome, 
and  (hat    every  citizen,  including    the  reigning 
emperor,  should  prostrate  himself  before  it.     "On 
the  top  of    a  monolith  of    porphyry,"  says  Dr. 
Hedge,  "he  placed  a  statue  of  Apollo,  rededicated 
to  himself,  with  a  halo  of  rays  formed,  it  is  said, 
of  nails  taken  from  the  cross  [of  Jesus]  which 
[the  Empress]  Helena  had  brought  from  Jerusa- 
lem.     Between  the    nails,   the    inscription:   'To 
Constantine,  shining  like  the  sun,  presiding  over 
his  city,  an  image  of  the  new  risen  Sun  of  Right- 


284         A   STUDY   OF    PKIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

eousness.*  This  column,  we  are  told,  was  long 
an  object  of  formal  worship  to  the  Christians  of 
Constantinople."*  The  adoration  of  the  em- 
peror as  an  incarnate  deity  was  transmitted,  to- 
gether with  the  characteristic  art  of  the  early 
Church  and  many  of  the  forms  of  primitive 
Christian  worship,  to  the  Oriental  Church  of  our 
own  day,  the  recognized  head  of  which,  the  Czar 
of  Russia,  is  still  addressed  by  his  subjects  as 
"our  God  on  earth."  f 

Sectarian  Disputes:  The  Donatists  and  CIr- 
cumcellions. 

Tyrant,  murderer,  and  patron  of  idolatry  as 
was  this  so-called  Christian  emperor,  this  pro- 
tector of  the  infant  Church,  he  was  excelled  in 
cruelty  and  infinitely  surpassed  in  bigotry  by 
many  of  his  Christian  subjects.  The  African 
Church — fertile  mother  of  an  evil  brood  of  irra- 
tional dogmas — became  divided  into  two  great 
sects,  the  Donatists  and  the  Catholics.  The 
former  claimed  to  be  the  only  elect  people  of 
Christ,  the  sole  inheritors  of  apostolic  succession. 
The  latter  stoutly  resisted  this  exclusive  claim. 
The  battle  of  words  soon  culminated  in  appeals 
to  physical  force.  When,  by  violence  or  artifice, 
the  Donatists  obtained  possession  of  a  church 
belonging  to  their  opponents,  they  burned  its 
altar,  melted  its  cups,  rebaptized  all  who  desired 
to  unite  with  their  services,  and  even  removed  the 

•Article  in  Unitarian  Review,  "Christianity  in  Conflict 
with  Hellenism." 

t  For  an  interesting  account  of  the  Oriental  Church,  see 
Dean  Stanley's  Lectures  on  the  Eastern  Church. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  285 

bodies  of  dead  Catholics  from  the  common  place 
of  sepulture,*  This  feud  ultimated  in  the  most 
barbarous  scenes  of  riot,  massacre,  and  licentious- 
ness, to  which  both  parties  contributed,  and  in 
which  they  gloried.  The  Donatists  boasted  of 
their  martyrs:  the  Catholics  testify  to  their  own 
barbarities,  appealing  to  the  examples  of  Moses, 
Joshua,  and  Elijah,  to  justify  the  wholesale  de- 
struction of  their  opponents.  Optatus,  a  Catholic 
bishop,  exultingly  cries,  "Is  the  vengeance  of  God 
to  be  defrauded  of  its  victims?"  It  is  probable 
that  more  people  perished  in  this  earliest  sectarian 
feud  than  the  total  number  of  Christian  martyrs 
during  the  persecutions  of  the  heathen  emperors. 

"Where  Christianity  has  outstripped  civilization," 
says  Dean  Milman,  . .  .  "whether  in  the  bosom  of 
an  old  society  or  within  the  limits  of  a  savage  life, 
it  becomes,  in  times  of  violent  excitement,  instead 
of  a  pacific  principle  to  assuage,  a  new  element  of 
ungovernable  strife."t  The  same  able  historian 
thus  describes  the  African  Christian  of  the  period 
now  under  consideration :  "Of  his  new  religion  he 
retained  only  the  perverted  language,  or  rather  that 
of  the  Old  Testament,  with  an  implacable  hatred 
of  all  hostile  sects ;  a  stern  ascetic  continence,  which 
perpetually  broke  out  into  paroxysms  of  unbridled 
licentiousness;  and  a  fanatic  passion  for  martyr- 
dom, which  assumed  the  acts  of  a  kind  of  method- 
ical insanity."! 

The  Circumcellions,  another  of  these  fanatical 

•  We  are  reminded  of  the  present  attitude  of  the  Cath- 
olics toward  those  of  other  faiths,— an  attitude  which  has 
often  ultimated  in  acts  almost  as  barbarous  as  those  of  the 
Donatists.  ^  „  . , 

t  msttyry  of  Christianity.  t  Ibid. 


286         A   STUDY   OF    PKIMITIVE    CHRISTIANITY 

sects,  asserted  the  theory  of  the  civil  equality  of 
mankind  ;  proclaimed  the  abolition  of  slavery ;  took 
the  master  from  his  chariot  and  placed  the  slave  in 
his  stead,  compelling  the  master  to  walk  by  his 
side  ;  declared  all  debts  to  be  cancelled,  and  granted 
release  to  the  debtors ;  and,  in  defence  of  these 
doctrines, — which,  indeed,  have  no  inconsiderable 
foundation  in  the  literal  teachings  of  Jesus, — they 
proclaimed  a  crusade  against  the  existing  order  of 
society.  Abandoning  their  accustomed  duties  as 
agricultural  laborers,  they  attacked  all  who  refused 
to  be  governed  by  their  interpretation  of  the  gos- 
pel teachings.  Since  Jesus  forbade  his  disciples  to 
use  the  sword,  declaring  that  "they  who  take  the 
sword  shall  perish  by  the  sword,"  the  Circumcel- 
lions  took  huge  clubs  for  their  weapons,  with  which 
they  beat  their  enemies  to  death.  Their  commu- 
nistic socialism  resulted  in  habits  of  marital  promis- 
cuity and  unbridled  licentiousness.  Their  bands 
of  marauders  in  the  name  of  Christ  were  accom- 
panied by  troops  of  abandoned  women,  whom  they 
called  "sacred  virgins."  Their  piratical  leaders 
were  denominated  "captains  of  the  saints."  Some 
of  these  fanatical  sects,  of  which  we  can  here  give 
but  one  or  two  specimen  descriptions,  were  still 
powerful  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  Christian  cen- 
tury. 

The  Ceuflict  of  the  Creeds:  Arins  and  Athauasins. 

During  the  reign  of  Coustantine,  the  memorable 
theological  conflict  known  as  the  Arian  controversy 
culminated,  and  resulted  in  the  formal  proclamation 
of    the  doctrine   of    the    Church   concerning  the 


CHRISTIAXITY   THE   STATE   liELIGIOX  287 

nature  of  Christ  and  his  relationship  to  the  Supreme 
Being.  This  controversy,  which  appealed  exclu- 
sively to  the  metaphysics  of  theology,  grew  directly 
out  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  first  formally 
accepted  as  an  essential  feature  in  the  Christian 
faith  by  the  authoritative  recognition  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  second  century. 
The  term  Logos,  in  the  mystical  philosophy  of  the 
Alexandrian  neo-Platonists,  represented  an  attri- 
bute rather  than  a  person,  an  emanation  from  the 
supreme  Deity  rather  than  the  generic  inheritor 
of  his  personality.  The  Logos  was  often  described 
figuratively  as  the  "Son  of  God,"  while  it  remained 
in  the  mind  of  the  metaphysician  as  an  attribute 
co-eternal  with  God  himself, — not  made  by  him, 
but  an  eternal  manifestation  of  his  divine  nature. 
An  attribute  is  of  course  forever  inseparable  from 
its  subject.  The  Christian  theologians,  however, 
treated  the  figurative  expressions  of  this  Oriental 
mysticism  as  they  had  treated  the  Orientalisms  of 
Paul  and  Jesus.  They  personified  the  attribute, 
and  identified  the  Logos,  regarded  as  the  Son  of 
God,  with  the  man  Jesus ;  torturing  the  Hebrew 
phrase  of  the  Gospels,  originally  descriptive  of 
citizenship  of  the  heavenly  kingdom,  the  regener- 
ated Jewish  state,  into  a  claim  for  a  special  and 
unique  relationship  between  Jesus  and  the  Father.* 
The  Logos  in   Christian  teaching  was  hyposta- 

•  Ewald  says  of  this  term,  "the  Son  of  God"  :  "With  it, 
the  reigning  Ijing  of  Israel  could  formerly  be  cMstinguished 
before  all  other  members  of  the  community  of  God.  ...  It 
was  first  used,  not  to  flatter  the  monarch,  but  in  accord- 
ance with  the  strict  idea  of  the  true  religion,— that,  if  all 
members  of  the  community  are  children  of  God,  elevated 
to  this  dignity  by  divine  grace  and  education,  and  at  the 
same  time  always  called  to  remain  faithful  to  this  higher 


288         A   STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

sized  ;  that  is,  as  interpreted  in  the  unyielding  idiom 
of  the  Latin  scholars,  it  was  regarded  as  an  inde- 
pendent substance,  no  longer  merely  as  an  attribute 
of  God.  In  this  rigid  logic,  this  separate  substance, 
endowed  with  personality,  accredited  with  the 
affinity  of  sonship,  could  no  longer  be  deemed 
co-eternal  with  the  Father.  Whether  "first  begot- 
ten," as  announced  by  Philo,  or  "only  begotten,"  as 
proclaimed  in  the  Christian  epic,  it  must  have  had 
a  genesis  and  beginning.  Yet  it  was  admitted  that 
through  all  time  the  Son  and  Father  had  dwelt 
together  as  separate  and  co-equal  persons. 

To  the  ordinary  mind,  here  was  an  insoluble 
contradiction,  but  not  so  to  the  metaphysician. 
In  his  thought,  time  itself  had  had  a  beginning. 
Both  the  parties  to  the  Arian  controversy  agreed 
that  there  was  no  imewhen  the  Father  and  Son 
did  not  dwell  together  as  equal  persons.  Yet  said 
Arius,  a  presbyter,  "There  was  when  the  Son  did 
not  exist."  The  Father  dwelt  alone  in  that  eter- 
nity which  was  before  time  began, — in  that  eternity 
which,  in  the  cant  of  the  current  metaphysics,  was 
not  infinite  duration,  but  the  actual  opposite  or 
negation  of  duration. 

Moreover,  said  Arius,  if  the  Logos  was  born  or 

created,  it  could  not  be  "of  the  same  substance" 

Qofioovaiog)  with  the  Father,  but  could  only  be  "of 

like  substance"   (^ofioioixjiog).      Around  these  two 

Greek  words,  differing  in   but  a  letter,  and   the 

stage  of  life,  then  the  trae  King  of  the  community  is  des- 
tined above  every  one  else  to  attain  such  an  exaltation,  in 
order  that  he,  as  standing  nearer  to  God  than  any  one  else, 
m^y  enjoy  more  fully  his  grace  and  protection,  while  at 
the  same  time,  should  he  depart  from  God,  he  must  feel 
his  chastisement  mostdirectly  and  most  severely."— £waici, 
p.  114. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE    STATE    RELIGION  289 

metaphysical  notions  which  they  represented,  was 
waged  the  long  and  bitter  battle  of  opposing  theo- 
logical factions, — a  battle  whose  weapons  were  not 
always  spiritual  or  even  logical,  and  in  which  no 
place  remained  for  the  manifestation  of  the  sweet 
graces  of  Christian  charity  and  brotherly  love.  In 
such  a  controversy,  we  of  the  present  day  can  have 
but  little  interest.  If  the  arguments  of  Arius 
were  enforced  by  a  more  unyielding  logic,  the  doc- 
trine and  thought  of  his  opponents  were  perhaps 
broader  and  more  catholic  than  his;  but  the 
foundations  of  both  parties  rested  in  an  arid  waste 
of  metaphysical  speculation,  as  far  removed  as 
possible  from  the  lofty  ethical  impulse  which  lay 
at  the  heart  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  alien- 
ated from  all  rational  conceptions  of  objective 
truth. 

Constantine  at  first  apparently  sympathized  with 
the  doctrine  of  Arius,  in  which  was  implied  the 
superiority  of  the  Father  to  the  Son,  but  subse- 
quently threw  the  weight  of  his  influence  on  the 
side  of  his  great  opponent,  Athanasius,  under 
whose  leadership  and  inspiration  the  council  of 
Nicaea  finally  formulated  an  authoritative  state- 
ment of  the  orthodox  belief  in  the  following  lucid 
terms : — 

"The  Son  is  begotten  from  the  substance  of  God, 
God  begotten  from  God,  light  from  light,  very  God 
from  very  God,  begotten,  not  made,  of  the  same  sub- 
stance with  the  Father."  * 


•For  an  interesting  popular  account  of  the  Arian  con- 
troversy, see  Christian  Ilistori/,  by  Joseph  Henry  Allen, 
See  also  Milman's  History  of  Chrisiianity ,  Chadwick's  The 
Man  Jesus,  Savage's  Talks  about  Jestis,  etc.  For  more 
elaborate  explanations,  see  Neander,  Mosheim,  Uaur,  etc, 


290        A   STUDY  OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIAN*  ?T 
Coustantiue's  Influence  as  Peace-maker. 

During  all  these  theological  controversies,  Con- 
fttantine  maintained  the  position  of  a  pacificator, 
endeavoring  to  bring  harmony  out  of  discord,  to 
consolidate  the  growing  Church  into  a  powerful 
and  homogeneous  body,  aud  to  make  it  the  support 
and  ally  of  the  imperial  throne.  Doubtless,  he 
saw  in  the  rapidly  growing  hierarchy  the  germs 
of  a  power  which,  through  its  influence  on  the 
conscience  and  credulity  of  the  people,  would  soon 
be  able  to  make  and  destroy  empires,  to  sustain  or 
overthrow  dynasties  and  kings.  With  a  practical 
shrewdness  which  allied  itself  with  the  profound- 
est  wisdom  of  state-craft,  he  seized  upon  all  pos- 
sible means  to  weld  together  the  schismatic  sects, 
and  to  bind  the  one  holy  and  Catholic  Church  to 
the  fortunes  of  the  empire.  He  flattered  the  bish- 
ops, humbly  claiming  to  be  himself  but  as  one  of 
them ;  yet,  in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  he  was 
always  the  power  behind  and  above  the  ecclesias- 
tics, guiding  their  actioQ  according  to  his  will. 

The  radical  divorce  between  dogmatic  theology 
and  true  religion,  between  a  recognition  of  the 
formal  observances  of  ecclesiasticism  and  that 
essential  nobility  of  character  which  constitutes 
the  supreme  beauty  and  glory  of  manhood,  was 
never  more  completely  exemplified  than  in  the 
character  and  example  of  Constautine.  We  may 
admire  his  statesmanship,  his  shrewdness,  his 
ability  as  a  ruler ;  but  we  must  not  permit  our  rec- 
ognition of  these  traits,  or  his  position  as  the  first 
Christian  emperor,  to  lead  us  to  regard  him  as  in 
any  sense  a  worthy  representative  of  natural  mo- 
rality or  of  true  religion. 


CHRISTIAXITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  291 

Early  Councils.    The  Formation  of  the  Caiion. 

The  formation  of  the  Christian  Canon  cannot  be 
attributed  to  the  influence  of  any  single  person 
or  to  the  authority  of  any  single  council  of  the 
Church.  Four  men,  Irenseus,  TertuUian,  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  and  Augustine,  were  chiefly  instru- 
mental in  determining  the  selection  of  the  books 
now  deemed  canonical  and  inspired;  and  several 
of  the  early  councils  indorsed  and  confirmed  their 
selection.  Of  these  four  men,  Irenseus  was  the 
earliest ;  and  his  influence  was  the  most  important. 
Writing  more  than  a  hundred  years  before  the  first 
oecumenical  or  general  council  of  the  Church,  his 
methods  were  uncritical,  and  his  decisions,  in  most 
instances,  were  purely  arbitrary.  Prof.  Davidson 
says  of  Irenseus,  Clement,  and  TertuUian :  "The 
three  Fathers  of  whom  we  are  speaking  had  neither 
the  ability  nor  inclination  to  examine  the  genesis 
of  documents  surrounded  with  an  apostolic  halo. 
No  analysis  of  their  authenticity  or  genuineness 
was  seriously  attempted.  .  . .  Irenseus  was  credu- 
lous and  blundering;  TertuUian,  passionate  and 
one-sided;  and  Clement  of  Alexandria,  imbued 
wich  the  treasures  of  Greek  wisdom,  was  mainly 
occupied  with  ecclesiastical  ethics.  . . .  Their  asser- 
tions show  both  ignorance  and  exaggeration."  * 

The  first  collection  of  Christian  writings,  how- 
ever, was  not  formed  by  either  of  these  distin- 
guished Fathers  of  the  Church,  but  by  Marcion, 
who,  for  his  Pauline  and  Gnostic  tendencies,  was 

•  The  CJiristian  Canon,  by  Samuel  Davidson,  D.D.  See 
also  abbreviated  article  by  same  author  in  Kncyclopsedia 
Britannica. 


292         A   STUDY   OF   PraMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

accounted  a  heretic.  His  collection  contained  one 
Gospel — not  identical  with  either  of  our  four 
canonical  Gospels — and  ten  Epistles  of  Paul,  which, 
however,  he  did  not  consider  inspired  or  of  divine 
authority.  Irenseus  arbitrarily  selected  our  four 
Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  thirteen  Epistles 
of  Paul,  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  and  the  Revela- 
tion. In  an  appendix,  as  of  less  authority,  he 
placed  the  Second  Epistle  of  John,  the  First  of 
Peter,  and  the  Shepherd  of  Hermas.  He  rejected 
absolutely  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Second 
of  Peter,  the  Third  of  John,  Jude,  and  James. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  about  210  A.D.,  accepted 
all  of  our  New  Testament  writings  except  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Second  of  John  and 
Jude,  which,  together  with  the  Revelation  of  Peter, 
the  Shepherd  of  Hermas,  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas, 
and  the  First  Epistle  of  Clement,  he  placed  in  an 
appendix,  as  of  secondary  importance.  Tertullian, 
about  ten  years  later,  ignored  the  Second  Epistle 
of  Peter,  the  Third  of  John  and  James,  and  de- 
clared Hebrews,  Jude,  Second  John,  and  First  Peter 
not  to  be  authoritative,  ranking  them  with  the 
apocryphal  Shepherd  of  Hermas.  Many  early  col- 
lections of  the  Christian  writings  omitted  the 
Apocalypse,  which  is  still  ignored  by  the  Eastern 
Church. 

Besides  numerous  other  fragmentary  copies  of 
the  New  Testament  writings,  there  are  four  great 
manuscripts  of  the  Greek  Bible  now  extant.  The 
Codex  Sinaidcus,  at  St.  Petersburg,  jn-obably  the 
oldest  of  the  four,  dating,  it  is  believed,  from  about 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  contains  not  only 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  293 

the  canonical  books  of  tho  New  Testament,  but 
also  the  Shepherd  of   Hermas  and  the  Epistle  of 
Barnabas,  now  deemed  apocryphal.     The   Codex 
Vaticanus,  at  Rome,  of  but  little  later  date,  ends  at 
Hebrews  ix.,  4,  by  mutilation.     The  Codex  Alexan- 
drinus,  in  the  possession  of  the  British  Government 
at  London,  includes  the  two  Epistles  of  Clement  of 
Rome  in    the    New   Testament  collection.      The 
Codex  Ephraemi,  at  Paris,  is  a  palimpsest ;  i.e.,  it  is 
written  over  another  writing,  still  partially  legible. 
It  agrees,  in  the  main,  with  the  other  codices,  but 
is  of  later  date,  and  less  perfect  and  reliable.    The 
variations  in  these  earliest  extant  collections  of  the 
New  Testament  writings  attest  the  fact  that  no 
general  and  complete  agreement  has  ever  been 
reached  respecting  the  books  deemed  canonical  or 
authoritative. 

The  Council  of  Hippo,  in  Africa,  in  the  year  393 
A.D.,— Augustine    being  present    as    the    ruling 
spirit,— declared  the  books  of  the  Bible  as  at  pres- 
ent published  to  be  canonical,  including  the  Old 
Testament  Apocrypha,  but  omitting  Lamentations. 
The  Council  of  Carthage,  four  years  later,— Augus- 
tine again  being  present,— confirmed  this  list,  and 
ordered  that  no  other  books  should  be  read  in  the 
churches  under  the  title  of  "Sacred  Scriptures." 
At  a  second  Council  of  Carthage,  A.D.  419,  Augus- 
tine's  selections  were   again    ratified.      There  is 
nothing,  however,  in  the  action  of  these  councils,  or 
in  the  character  of  the  men  composing  them,  which 
would  tend  to  sustain  their  authority  as  infallible 
or    even    reasonably    just    and    intelligent.      Dr. 
Philip  Schaff,the  orthodox  historian  of  the  Church, 


294:         A   STUDV   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

says  of  the  bishops  who  constituted  these  councils, 
"Together  with  abundant  talents,  attainments,  and 
virtues,  there  were  gathered  also  . .  .  ignorance,  in- 
trigues, and  partisan  passions,  which  had  already 
been  excited  on  all  sides  by  long  controversies  pre- 
ceding, and  now  met  and  arrayed  themselves,  as 
hostile  armies  for  open  combat."  *    Nor  is  this  mil- 
itant comparison  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  for  vio- 
lent brawls  and  unseemly  physical  conflicts  were 
not  uncommon  at  these  convocations.     At  the  first 
Council  of  Nicaea,  Nicholas,  bishop  of  Myra,  met 
the  arguments  of  Arius  by  bestowing  upon  the  jaw 
of  that  venerable  presbyter  such  a  violent  blow  that 
a  temporary  disuse  of  that  important  organ  of  de- 
bate was  rendered  necessary.     Of  the  third  general 
council  of  the  Church,  held  at  Ephesus,  Dr.  Schaff 
declares    that    its    proceedings   were    marked   by 
"shameful  intrigue,  uncharitable  lust  of  condemna- 
tion, and  coarse  violence  of  conduct."!     Dean  Mil- 
man  affirms  that  "intrigue,  injustice,  violence,  de- 
cisions on  authority  alone,  and  that  the  authority 
of  a  turbulent  majority,  decisions  by  wild  accla- 
mation rather  than    sober  inquiry,  detract  from 
the  reverence,  and  impugn   the  judgments  ...  of 
the  later  councils."  %     The  impartial  historian  can 
hardly  perceive  any  valid  reason  for  exempting  the 
earlier  councils  from  the  same  judgment. 

In  the  midst  of  such  influences,  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical, as  we  have  described,  were  born  the  "infal- 
lible Church"  of  Catholic  Christianity  and  the  "in- 
fallible Bible"  of  Protestantism.  When  we  reflect 
soberly  upon  this  phenomenon,  so  extraordinary  in 

*  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  t  Ibid. 

t  History  of  Christianity. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  295 

its  alleged  results,  so  human — not  to  say  sometimes 
inhuman — in  its  means  and  methods,  can  we  fail  to 
conclude  that  there  is  not  one  particle  of  evidence 
to  sustain  the  claims  for  infallibility  made  on  be- 
half of  either  the  Bible  or  the  Church  ? 

Tlie  IVatiiral  Evolntion  of  Christianity. 

We  are  now  approaching  the  conclusion  of  this 
discussion ;  but,  before  we  leave  it  for  the  consid- 
eration of  matters  of  seemingly  greater  practical 
import,  let  us  recall  the  leading  features  which 
have  impressed  themselves  on  our  narrative  of  the 
historical  evolution  of  Christianity,  and  draw  from 
them  such  natural  conclusions  as  we  may  concern- 
ing the  genesis  and  development  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

The  rise,  progress,  and  triumph  of  Christianity 
constitute  indeed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  phe- 
nomena in  the  world's  history.  We  cannot  wonder 
that  an  uncritical  people,  regarding  it  superficially, 
have  seen  in  it  evidences  of  supernatural  interven- 
tion and  the  working  of  a  greater  than  human 
power.  A  careful  study  of  the  development  of  other 
religions,  however,  will  illustrate  the  truth  that  the 
rapid  growth  of  Christianity,  though  indeed  re- 
markable, is  not  an  entirely  unique  phenomenon  in 
history.  The  spread  of  Buddhism  was  even  more 
rapid,  not  only  in  its  native  India,  but  also  among 
peoples  of  alien  race,  unlike  civilization,  and  differ- 
ent religion.  It  still  numbers  more  adherents  than 
all  the  sects  of  Christendom  combined.  In  later 
times,  the  growth  of  Mohammedanism  during  the 
lifetime  of  its  founder  far  surpassed  the  progress 


296        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHUISTIANITY 

made  by  Christianity  in  the  earlier  years  of  its  ex- 
istence.* In  our  own  day  and  in  the  lifetime  of 
some  of  its  members,  the  Brahmo-Somaj  of  India 
has  converted  some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the 
native  population  to  its  pure  theistic  faith. 

Many  of  the  earliest  converts  to  Christianity 
were  drawn  from  the  Jewish  communities  scattered 
among  the  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  dis- 
solution of  the  Jewish  commonwealth  and  the 
distribution  of  its  people  throughout  the  nations 
thus  became  a  natural  influence  of  notable  import 
in  favoring  the  spread  of  the  Christian  faith.  The 
new  religion,  however,  influenced  but  little  the  Ju- 
daism of  Palestine ;  and  the  later  accretion  of  myth 
and  dogma  imported  into  Christianity  from  Aryan 
and  Egyptian  sources  speedily  resulted  in  a  sepa- 
ration of  the  Hebrew  element,  and  cut  short  the 
progress  of  the  growing  faith  among  the  people  of 
its  founder. 

Jesus,  the  Myth  and  the  ITIan. 

It  is  insisted  by  the  dogmatic  defenders  of  Chris- 
tianity, on  the  one  hand,  and  by  its  dogmatic  oppo- 
nents, on  the  other,  that  the  New  Testament  narra- 
tives must  either  be  accepted  as  a  whole — the  su- 
pernatural and  miraculous  elements  included — or 
rejected  entirely  as  of  no  historical  value.  If  we 
have  been  successful  in  our  treatment  of  this  im- 
portant branch  of  our  subject,  however,  it  should 
be  clear  that,  by  the  canons  of  a  true  historical  and 

*  Dean  Stanley,  in  his  Lectures  on  the  Eastern  Church,  in 
noting  the  spread  of  Mohammedanism  in  Africa,  concedes 
to  it  some  admirable  features  which  are  lacking  ia  Oriental 
Christianity.  His  frank  treatment  of  this  subject  is  very 
suggestive  and  instructive. 


CHRISTIANITY    THE    STATE   RELIGION  297 

critical  exegesis,  it  fs  quite  possible  to  separate  the 
characteristics  of  the  mythical  Christ  from  the  gen- 
uine features  of  the  Man  of  Nazareth;  and  this, 
too,  by  the  application  of  no  arbitrary  rule.  Hav- 
ing recovered  the  picture  of  the  historical  Jesus 
from  our  investigation  of  the  consenting  testimony 
of  the  synoptical  Gospels,  and  set  over  against  it 
the  remaining  material  of  the  Evangelical  writers, 
the  result  proves  the  correctness  of  the  method, 
almost  with  the  certainty  of  mathematical  demon- 
stration. 

On  the  one  hand,  we  have  Jesus,  the  Man, — a 
Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews, — true  son  and  successor 
of  the  prophets,  finding  his  inspiration,  his  doc- 
trines, his  apt  illustrations,  his  intense  moral  con- 
victions, all  latent  in  the  ideas,  the  customs,  sur- 
roundings,  and  even  in  the  superstitions  and  prej- 
udices of  his  people.  His  doctrine,  like  Paul's,  was, 
"to  the  Greeks,  foolishness";  but  it  was  by  no 
means  unfamiliar  or  incomprehensible  to  the  peo- 
ple of  Galilee  and  Judea.  His  aphorisms,  quota- 
tions, and  illustrations  show  familiarity  with  the 
Hebrew  scriptures  and  with  the  current  uncritical 
methods  of  expounding  and  interpreting  them  in 
the  synagogues,  but  none  whatever  with  the  litera- 
ture and  philosophy  of  Greece  and  Rome.  The 
Jesus  of  the  Triple  Tradition  is  a  simple,  noble, 
manly  personage,  full  of  intense  conviction  and  pro- 
phetic enthusiasm,  who  moves  naturally  and  freely 
in  his  native  Hebrew  environment.  The  traces  of 
the  miraculous  which  still  linger  in  his  story  are 
well-known  superstitious  belongings  of  his  time  and 
people.    Jesus  was  conscience,  humanity,  compas- 


298        A    STUDY   OP   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

sion  incarnate,  but  conscience,  humanity,  and 
compassion  tinged  by  the-habitual  atmosphere  of 
Hebrew  life  and  thought.  Without  the  current 
Jewish  expectation  of  a  coming  Messiah,  and  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  soon  to  be  established  on 
the  earth,  the  historical  Jesus  of  the  Triple  Tradi- 
tion would  have  had  no  existence.  That  three  or 
four  Greek  writers  of  a  later  century  should  invent 
such  a  character,  living  and  moving  in  an  atmos- 
phere so  foreign  to  any  other  imaginable  environ- 
ment, as  some  recent  writers  have  suggested, — that, 
indeed,  would  be  a  miracle  as  difficult  for  the 
rigorous  and  vigorous  apostles  of  iconoclastic  rad- 
icalism to  explain  as  are  some  of  the  legendary 
stories  of  the  gospel  narratives  for  their  orthodox 
opponents. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  we  pass  from  the  man 
Jesus  of  the  Triple  Tradition  to  the  Christ  of  the 
excluded  birth-legends  and  the  \^onderful  fabric  of 
mysticism  and  dogma  fouud  in  the  Fourth  Gospel,  we 
pass  out  of  the  Hebrew  environment  into  the  region 
of  Aryan  and  Egyptian  thought.  The  Christian 
mythus  finds  its  explanation  in  legends  foreign  and 
abhorrent  to  the  Hebrew  mind :  in  the  similar 
myths  which  cluster  about  the  story  of  Krishna  in 
India,  and  which  were  reflected  in  the  later  tradi- 
tions of  Buddhism ;  in  the  like  mythological  con- 
ceptions of  the  Egyptian  Osiris  worship,  and  the 
current  religions  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Back  of 
these,  it  rests  upon  a  common  substratum  of  solar 
mythology,  which  constituted  so  important  an  ele- 
ment in  the  religions  of  India,  Persia,  Greece, 
Rome,  Babylon,  Assyria,  and  Egypt. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION 


299 


The  Mythical  Eleuieat  as  related  to  the  ProgreM 
of  ChrJstianity. 

To  account  for  the  marvellous  progress  of  Chris- 
tianity among  the  Aryan  peoples  of  Europe,  some- 
thing more  than  the  life  and  character  of  the  his- 
torical Jesus  is  demanded  by  the  rational  investi- 
gator.    That  the  mythical  and  philosophical  accre- 
tions which  gathered  about  his  story  in  the  gospel 
narratives  helped  to  familiarize  and  popularize  his 
teachings  outside  the  boundaries  of  Judaism,  there 
can  scarcely  be  a  doubt.     This  influence  was  greatly 
aided  by  the  teaching  of  Paul,  who  in  his  own  per- 
son combined  Pharisaic  Judaism  with  the  results 
of   Greek  philosophical  culture,  and  whose  work 
was  a  preparation  for  the  new  Platonism  of  the 
Alexandrian  schools,  which  drew  into  yet  closer 
contact  the  alien  faiths  of   Greece  and  Palestine. 
Finally,  Paul's  doctrine  of   Universalism  severed 
Christianity  from  the  ethnical  narrowness  of  Ju- 
daism,  and  it  fell  as  fruitful  seed  into  a  soil  pre- 
pared  by  the  political  ferments  succeeding  the  con- 
quests of  Alexander  and  the  Caesars,-into  a  world 
united  as  never  before  by  the  liberal  and  cosmopol- 
itan policy  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

Under  the  modifying  influence  of  its  mythical 
and  dogmatic  accretions,  it  is  evident  that  the 
simple  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus  was  largely  ob- 
scured and  misinterpreted.  There  were  three  fac- 
tors, however,  in  the  evolution  of  Christianity,  to 
which  its  progress  and  ultimate  triumph  appear  to 
be  chiefly  due,  that  are  traceable  directly  to  the 
thought  of  Jesus,  and  that  offer  an  historical 
justification  for  the  popular  regard  in  which  he  is 


300         A    STUDY   OF    PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

held  as  the  founder  of  the  new  faith.  These,  taking 
them  in  the  order  of  their  development,  were: 
first,  that  feature  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus  which 
based  morality  upon  the  inner  motive  rather  than 
the  outward  act;  secondly,  the  natural  ultimatiou 
and  practical  application  of  this  principle  through 
the  socialistic  communism  of  primitive  Christian- 
ity,* and  particularly  in  the  wider  principle  of 
Pauline  Universalism;  and,  thirdly,  the  outcome 
and  survival  of  this  democratic  and  equalizing 
principle  in  the  form  of  the  church  organization. 

The  abrogation  of  caste  and  of  social  distinctions 
in  the  church  organization  was  the  surviving  rem- 
nant of  the  earlier  communism,  which  not  even  the 
triumph  of  the  Roman  hierarchy  could  wholly 
obscure,  though  it  succeeded  in  transforming  the 
democratic  equality  of  the  earlier  communities  into 
the  subordinated  equality  of  the  "Church  militant," 
— of  soldiers  marching  under  the  command  of  an 
autocratic  leader.  The  organization  of  the  Church 
was  possible  only  through  the  principle  of  Univer- 
salism introduced  by  Paul,  but  based  ultimately 
upon  the  thought  of  Jesus.  The  separate  commu- 
nities were  welded  together  by  the  result  of  the 
dogmatic  controversies,  and  the  circumstances  of 
the  political  situation,  into  a  compact  organization 
of  workers,  which  gave  Christianity  a  tremendous 
advantage  in  its  conflict  with  heathenism.  The 
ethnic  religions,  in  their  popular  forms,  were  a 
matter  of  family  interest  rather  than  of  organized, 

•  More  than  a  year  after  these  words  were  written,  we  are 
gratified  to  find  our  judgment  confirmed  in  the  able  and 
scholarly  address  of  Rev.  Dr  Heber  Newton  on  "The  Relig- 
ious Aspect  of  Socialism."    See  Index  of  June  25, 1885. 


CHRIST rANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  301 

concerted  public  actioa.  They  fostered  no  univer- 
sal church.  The  state  religion  was  usually  quite 
different  from  the  popular  faith;  and,  while  the 
schools  of  philosophy  and  secret  and  select  associa- 
tions of  the  mystagogues  interested  the  intelligent 
classes,  they  did  not  appeal  to  the  sympathies  of 
the  common  people. 

With  this  principle  of  organized  Universalism  in 
the  primitive  Christian  faith,  the  tendency  and 
policy  of  the  Roman  Empire  coincided ;  and  the 
Church  accordingly  took  form  and  being  under  the 
guiding  influence  of  the  State.  "The  first  form 
which  Christianity  assumed,"  says  Tiele,  "as  an 
established  religion,  was  Roman.  The  Roman 
Catholic  Church  is  simply  the  Roman  universal 
empire  modified  and  consecrated  by  Christian 
ideas.  It  left  the  old  forms,  for  the  most  part, 
standing ;  but  it  ennobled  and  elevated  them  by  a 
new  spirit.  Its  organization,  and  the  efforts  after 
unity  which  controlled  all  its  development,  were 
inherited  from  the  Romans ;  and  it  was  by  their 
means  that  it  was  enabled  to  become  the  teacher 
of  the  still  rude  populations  of  the  north,  to  pre- 
serve rather  than  diffuse  tha  treasures  which  it 
had  received  from  the  ancients  and  from  Jesus."  * 

Christianity  and  the  Religion  of  the  Fatare. 

Looking  back  over  the  history  of  these  earliest 
Christian  centuries,  is  it  wonderful,  then,  that  the 
new  religion  gained  steadily  in  power,  and  pressed 
forward  to  its  ultimate  triumph?    Nay.     The  won- 

'The  History  of  Reliction,  by  Prof.  C.  P.  Tiele,  of  the 
University  of  Leyden. 


302        A   STUDY   OF   PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY 

der  would  have  been  had  the  event  proved  other- 
wise. At  every  step,  we  behold  the  inevitable  re- 
sults of  easily  discernible  and  wholly  natural 
causes.  Had  the  simple,  unalloyed  teaching  of  the 
Prophet  of  Nazareth  prevailed  throughout  the  em- 
pire, that  indeed  would  have  been  a  miracle.  But 
Christianity  triumphant,  as  we  have  seen,  was  far 
from  being  the  religion  of  Jesus  :  it  was  a  compro- 
mise with  Pagan  power  and  sacerdotalism, — a  hy- 
brid product  which  the  Nazarene  would  never  have 
recognized  as  the  child  of  his  simple  enthusiasm 
for  righteousness,  his  devotion  and  self-abnegation, 
his  suffering  and  agony,  his  poverty  and  supreme 
self-sacrifice.  Imperial  Rome  was  not  the  kingdom 
of  righteousness  whose  coming  he  desired  and 
prophesied, — no,  nor  any  nation,  people,  or  relig- 
ious communion  which  has  succeeded  it,  owning 
or  professing  the  name  of  Christian.  His  was  a 
beautiful  ideal,  never  to  be  completely  realized,  as 
he  anticipated,  by  any  earthly  society;  but  let  us 
not  doubt  that  this  rejected  stone  will  yet  take  its 
place  in  the  temple  of  the  Religion  of  the  Future, — 
the  true  religion  of  humanity, — which  shall  be 
neither  exclusively  Christian  nor  Buddhist,  nor 
Mohammedan  nor  Hindu,  which  shall  be  known 
by  no  sectarian  designation.  Into  its  fold  shall  be 
welcomed  all  sincere  and  earnest  seekers  for  the 
truth;  all  who  strive  for  its  manifestation  in  a 
life  of  righteousness ;  all  who  believe,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  one  of  its  prophets,  that  "Truth  is  our 
only  armor  in  all  passages  of  life  and  death."  Iti 
blessed  ministry  shall  lead  them,  and  lead  all  th< 
world  at  last,  to  a  perfect  recognition  of  the  Broth 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   STATE   RELIGION  303 

ERHOOD  OP  Man  ;  and  to  that  trustful  acceptance 
of  the  universe,  which,  independent  even  of  theistic 
dogma,  stands  to  all  reverent  and  thoughtful  minds 
as  the  rational  fulfilment  of  Jesus'  doctrine  of  the 
Fatherhood  of  God 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


The  following  books  have  been  consulted  in  the  preparation  of 
this  volume,  and  may  be  examined  with  advantage  by  persons 
desiring  to  obtain  further  information  on  the  subjects  herein  treated : 

Abbot,  Ezra,  D.D.— The  Fourth  Gospel.  An  examination  re- 
specting its  authorship,  authenticity,  etc. 

Abbott,  Edwin  A.,  D.D.— Gospels.  (Article  in  the  Encyclo- 
paedia Britannica,  ninth  ed.) 

Allen,  Prof.  Joseph  Henry.—  Christian  History.    (First  Period.) 

Antoninus,  Marcus  Aurelius. —  Meditations.  _ 

Apocryphal  New  Testament.— Compiled  by  WiUiam  Hone, 
London,  1820. 

Apollonius  TYAN.EUS.— Article  in  Encyclopsedia  Bntannica. 

Arnold,  Matthew. —  Literature  and  Dogma.  God  and  the  Bible. 
Saint  Paul  and  Protestantism.  .    .     ~, 

Earth,  A.  (Member  of  the  Socitit^  Asiatique  of  Pans.)— The 
Religious  of  India.    Translated  by  Rev.  J.  Wood,  Edinburgh. 

Baur,  Prof.  Ferdinand  Christian,  late  professor  of  theology 
in  the  University  of  Tubingen.— Christ  and  Apollonius. 
Church  History  of  the  First  Three  Centuries. 

Bible  for  Learners.  By  Dr.  H.  Oort  and  Dr.  I.  Hooykaas, 
Rotterdam.  , ,,.      , 

Brewer,  L.  Cobham,  LL.D.— Dictionary  of  Miracles,  Instructive, 
Realistic,  and  Dogmatic.  .  „     ,         ^,      ,, 

Chadwick,  Rev.  John  W.— The  Bible  of  To-day.  The  Man 
Jesus. 

Davidson,  Samuel,  D.D.,  LL.D.— The  New  Testament  Canon. 
Article  "  Canon,"  Encyclopsedia  Britannica  (ninth  ed.). 

Deutsch,  Emanuel.— Literary  Remains,  article  on  the  Talmud. 

EusEBius.— Church  History.     Contra  Hieroclem. 

Everett,    Prof.    Carroll    C,    D.D.— The    New    Morality. 

Ewald!— History  of  Israel.    (Translated  by  Russell  Martineau.) 
Frothingham,  Rev.  O.  B.— The  Cradle  of  the  Chnst^  . 
Geiger,  Dr.  Abraham,  Rabbi  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main.— Juda- 
ism and  its  History.  ,    .     „  t^      • 
Gibbon,  Edward.— Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire. 
Grant,  Sir  Alexander.— Aristotle's  Ethics.    _        ,    ,,  .       .^ 
Haug,  Martin,  Ph.D.,  late  professor  of  Sanskrit  at  the  Umversity 
of   Munich.— The    Religion  of   the   Parsis.    (Translated   by 
E.  W,  West,  Ph.D.) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  305 

Hbdge,  Rev.  Frederic  H.,  D.D.— Christianity  in  Conflict  with 
Hellenism.     (In  Unitarian  Review.) 

Heilprin,  Michael. —  Hebrew  Poetry. 

Holland,  Frederic  May. — The  Reign  of  the  Stoics. 

Horns. —  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament. 

iRENiEUS. —  Five  Books  against  Heresies. 

Jackson,  Rev.  George  A.— The  Apostolic  Fathers.  Fathers  of 
the  Third  Century.    (Christian  Literature  Primers.) 

Jacobs,  Joseph.— The  God  of  Israel.  (In  Nineteenth  Century 
Review,  September,  iSjg.) 

JosEPHUs,  Flavius. —  The  Works  of. 

Kei.m,  Prof.  Thbodor. —  History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara. 

Knight,  Richard  Paynb,  A.M. —  Symbolical  Language  of  An- 
cient Art. 

KuENEN,  Prof.  Abram,  of  the  University  of  Leyden. — The  Re- 
ligion of  Israel. 

Lenormant,  Francois. — The  Eleusinian  Mysteries:  A  Study  of 
Religious  History.  (In  Contemporary  Review,  July  et  sea., 
iSSo.) 

Maine,  Sir  Henry  Sumner. —  Early  Laws  and  Customs. 

Mill,  John  Sti;art. — Autobiography. 

MiLMAN,  Henry  Hart,  D.D.,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's. —  History  of 
Christianity.     History  of  the  Jews. 

MosHEiM,  John  Lorenz  von. —  Institutes  of  Ecclesiastical  History. 
Affairs  before  Constantine. 

Mozoomdar,  Protap  Chunder. — The  Oriental  Christ. 

Muller,  Prof.  F.  Max. —  India:  What  can  it  teach  us  ? 

Neander,  Johann  August  Wilheuvi. —  General  History  of  the 
Christian  Religion  and  Church. 

Newton,  Rev.  R.  Heber,  D.D. — The  Religious  Aspect  of  So- 
cialism.    Essay,  in  Index,  June  25,  1885. 

Nicholson,  Rev.  Dr. — Gospel  of  the  Hebrews.    (Comp.) 

Oldenburg,  Prof. — Buddha,  his  Life,  his  Law,  and  his  Order. 

Oswald,  Dr.  Felix. — The  Secret  of  the  East. 

Philo  Jud.«us. —  The  Works  of.    (Mangey's  ed.) 

Philostratus. —  Life  of  Apollonius  of  Tyana. 

Renan,  Ernhst. —  Origins  of  Christianity:  Vol.  I.,  Life  of  Jesus; 
Vol.  II.,  Saint  Paul;  Vol.  III.,  The  Apostles;  Vol.  IV.,  The 
Antichrist;  Vol.  V.,  Marcus  Aurelius.  English  Conferences 
(Hibbert  Lectures).     Recollections  of  my  Youth. 

Rhvs-Davids,  Prof. — Buddha  and  Buddhism. 

RiTTER,  Dr.  Heinrich. —  History  of  Ancient  Philosophy. 

Savage,  Rev.  Minot  J. — The  Morals  of  Evolution.  Talks  about 
Jesus. 

ScHAFF,  Rev.  Philip,  D.D. —  History  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Seeley,  Prof. —  Roman  Imperialism. 

Spencer,  Herbert. —  Data  of  Ethics. 

Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn,  D.D.,  Dean  of  Westminster. — 
Christian  Institutions.     Lectures  on  the  Eastern  Church. 

Strauss,  David  Friedrich. —  Life  of  Jesus. 

Supernatural  Religion. 

Tacitus. 

Talmud. 

Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles. 

TiELB,  Prof.  C.  P.,  of  the  University  of  Leyden.— History  of 
Religion. 


306  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Toy,  Prof.  Crawford  Howbll.— Quotations  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. 

Watson,  Paul  Barron.— Marcus  Aurelms  Antoninus. 

Wilder,  Dr.  Alexander. —  Paul  and  Plato.    (Essay.) 

Zbller,  Dr.  E.,  professor  in  the  University  at  Heidelberg. — The 
Stoics,  Epicureans,  and  Sceptics. 


INDEX. 


Abbot,  Dr.  Ezra,  in  defence  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  78;  on  the 
Canonical  Gospels,  85,  note;  on  the  early  Gospds,  88,  note; 
on  the  Peshito,  88. 
Abbott,  Dr.  Edwin  A.,  on  the  relative  age  of  the  Gospels,  93. 
Abolitionists,  133. 

Abtalyon,  Rabbi,  29. 

Acts  of  the  Apostles,  26,  175,  186,  188,  notet ;  205,  %2%. 

.iEons,  220,  221,  227.  , 

iEsculapius,  151. 
"M-gape,  201,  note  ;  212,  255. 

Age  of  the  Four  Gospels,  ii,et  seq. ;  92. 

Ahriman,  14,  53,  77. 

Ahura-Mazda,  106. 

Akiba,  Rabbi,  23. 

Alexander  of  Abonoteichus,  153,  note. 

Alexander  Severus,  154,  251. 

Alexander  the  Great,  15,  50,  53,  60,  65. 

Alexandrian  influence  on  Christianity,  54,  287. 

Alexandrian  School  of  Philosophy,  56;  in  relation  to  the  Fourth 
Gospel,  169. 

Alleged  Buddhistic  origin  of  the  Christian  tradition,  159-161. 

Allen,  Prof.  Joseph  Henry,  on  the  term  "Son  of  God,"  94;  on 
Paul  and  Jesus,  174,  193;  on  Paul's  personality,  183;  on 
Gnosticism,  219;  on  early  doctrines,  261;  on  heathen  monu- 
ments, 274. 

Ananias  and  Sapphira,  276,  note.  ....      .  ,    .. 

Antichrist,  189;  the  doctrine  of,  231;  identification  of  Nero 
with,  232. 

Antiochus  Epiphanes,  231. 

Antoninus.     (See  "  Marcus  Aurelius.") 

Antoninus  Pius,  his  Stoicism,  50;  founds  asylums,  51 ;  protects  the 
Christians,  241,  and  note. 

Apocalypse,  189,  206,  228,  231,  232. 

Apocrypha,  163,  note;  293. 

Apocryphal  Gospels,  71,  fiote;  73,  79,  84,  loi,  102,  164. 

Apocryphal  New  Testament,  81. 

Apollo,  Birth  Legend  of,  147;  in  the  catacombs,  272;  an  incarnation 
of  the  sun-god,  282  ;  recognized  by  Constantine,  283. 

Apollonius  of  Tyana,  an  historical  personage,  148;  his  biography, 
148-150;  his  philosophy,  149;  life  and  labors,  150-153;  his 
asceticism,  151;  his    alleged    miracles,  151-153;    his   deifica- 


308  INDEX 

tion,  153-155;  his  religion  and  ethics,   155;   coincidences  with 

the  Christian  legend,  156-159;   his  recognition  by  Alexander 

Severus,  251. 
Apostolic  age,  The  Church  in,  204. 
Apostolic  Fathers,  Epistles  of,  69,  80. 
Aramaic,  the  language  of  Palestine,  33 ;   not  the  language  of  the 

Gospels,  73 ;  words  in  the  Second  Gospel,  93. 
Aramaic  version  of  the  Scriptures,  23. 
Arian  controversy,  286-289,  and  note. 
Aristobulus,  16. 

Arius,  288, 289,  294.  ,     _,   .    .     . 

Arnold,  Matthew,  on  Paul,  195, 198,  200;  on  early  Christianity,  257, 

«(7^ff;  on  the  catacombs,  273. 
Aryan  birth  legends,  147 ;  as  related  to  the  gospel  stones,  298. 
Aryan  character  of  the  "  Oriental  Christ,"  171. 
Aryan  origin  of  the  Trinitarian^ dogma,  109. 

Aryan  origin  of  the  word  "  devil,"  112.  r  .     n  ' 

Asceticism,  of  the  Essenes,  22;  relation  of  Jesus  to,  129 ;  of  Apollo- 

nius,  151 ;  of  the  Montanists,  258. 
Asklepios,  44. 

Asmonean  leaders  in  Judea,  15. 
Athanasius,  2S9. 
Athenagoras,  263. 
Attalusj  the  martyr,  246. 
Augustine,  60,  183,  291,  293. 
Augustus  Caesar,  39,  48,  59,  219,  231. 
Aurelian,  152. 

Babylonian  captivity,  18,  106. 

Babylonian  elements  in  the  Teutonic  religion,  64. 

Babylonian  origin  of  Hebrew  demonism,  112. 

Bacchus,  282. 

Banus,  the  immerser,  27. 

Baptism,  21,27,  104,  206-210. 

Bar-Cochba,  24,  239. 

Barnabas,  Epistle  of,  233. 

Batanea,  223,  224.  . 

Baur,  Ferdinand  Christian,  on  the  relation  of  Jesus  to  Judaism,  139 ; 

on  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  149,  and  «(?/^;  on  Simon  Magus,  225, 

and  note. 
Beausobre  on  Simon  Magus,  225. 
Bible,  its  claims  to  infallibility,  294. 
Bible  of  to-day,  176,  note. 

Bibliography,  304..  ,      ,. 

Birth  stories,  Unhistoncal  character  of,  99,  i4S-'47»  158,  iS9>  ^63, 104. 
Bishops,  215-217. 
Blandina,  the  martyr,  246,  248. 
Brahmo-Somaj,  35,  171,  and  note  ;  296. 

Britain  under  the  Romans,  61.  ,         j    t 

Buddha,  left  no  written  word,  69;  parables  of,  75,  note ;  a  legend  of, 

102 ;  birth  stories,  147 ;  coincidences  with  Christ,  161,  and  note. 
Buddhaghosa's  parables,  75,  note. 
Buddhism, not  related  to  E3senism,22;  its  doctrine  of  Nirvana,  1105 

unjustly  depreciated,  142,  note;  its  esoteric  doctrine,  151,  267; 

its  relation  to  Christianity,  159-161 ;  its  rapid  growth,  295. 

Cabala,  23,  194. 

Cssar,  124  (see  Julius  and  Augustus  C). 


INDEX  309 

Caligula,  51,  218,  219. 

Canon,  291-295. 

Canonical  Gospels^  70,  et  seg. ;  8i,  292. 

Canon  of  Muraton,  88. 

Captivity  to  Roman  period,  14. 

Caracalla,  154. 

Carlyle,  243. 

Carthage,  religion  and  history,  59 ;  Coundl  of,  293. 

Cassiodorus,  154,  and  note. 

Castor  and  Pollux,  282. 

Catacombs,  Testimony  of,  268-274. 

Cathedra,  211,  217. 

Cathobc  Church,  its  relation  to  Paul,  190;  its  contest  with  the 

Donatists,  284,  285,  and  note ;  its  indebtedness  to  Constantine, 

290;    its  claims    to   infallibility,  294;  its  doctrine  of  equality, 

300;  its  inheritance  from  Paganism,  217,  301. 
Catiline,  42. 
Cato,  42. 

Causes  of  the  persecutions,  254,  et  seq.  ;  259. 
Celsus,  148,  155,  note. 
Celt.    (See  "  Keltic  Communities.") 
Chadwick,  Rev.  John  W.    Preface,  176,  note. 
Chaldean  demonism,  15,  112. 
Chaldean  origin  of  baptism,  206,  and  note. 
Chaldean  origin  of  Hebrew  myths,  169,  note. 
Chaldea's  gift  to  Israel,  14. 
Christianity  of  Paul,  174. 
Christianity  the  State  Religion,  266. 
Christmas,  The  origin  of,  46,  283. 
Chromatins,  277. 

Church  in  the  Apostolic  Agb,  204, 
Cicero,  42. 

Circumcellions,  285,  si  seq. 
Claudius,  51,  91,  219,  228. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  88,  291,  292. 
Clement  of  Rome,  in  relation  to  the  Christian  Canon,  82 ;  his  alleged 

allusion  to  Paul,    190,  and  note;    his  superstition,  233;    nis 

Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  82,  236. 
Clementine  Homilies,  uncertain  date  of,  82;  on  Simon  Magus, 

224-228 ;  Dean  Milman  on,  225. 
Cleopatra,  53. 
Clerical  orders,  2t4-2i7. 

Codex,  Sinaiticus,  292 ;  Vaticanus,  Alexandrinus,  Ephraemi,  293. 
Commerce  and  civilization,  48. 
Communism,  of  Jesus,  40,  124 ;  as  recognized  by  Paul,  201 ;  of  the 

early  Church,  276;  Heber  Newton  on,  276,   note;  survivals  in 

Catholicism,  300. 
Comte,  Auguste,  on  Paul,  174. 

Conflict  with  Onentalism,  219-222.  ,      •• 

Constantine,  277;  his  character  and  attitude,  280;  his  eclecticism, 

282;  his  recognition  of  Paganism,  282-284;  his  relation  to  the 

Arian  controversy,  289 ;  his  influence  as  peace-maker,  290. 
Copts.    (See  "  Kopts.") 
Crassus,  41,  42. 
Crescentius,  247. 
Crioboliura,  261. 
Crispus,  aSx. 


310  INDEX 

Cross,  its  uses  in  religious  symbolism  before  Christ,  46. 
Cybele,  282. 

Damis,  148,  149.  1501  1521  i53>  note. 

David,  Jesus  not  the  Son  of,  102,  114. 

Davidson,  Dr.   Samuel,  on  the  gospel  canon,  81;  on    Irenaeus, 

Clement,  and  Tertullian,  291. 
Deacons,  215,  216. 
^Decay  of  the  religious  sentiment,  46. 
Decius,  251,  252,  254. 
Demetrius,  152. 
Demiourgos,  57,221. 
'SDemoniacal  possession,  75,  112,  14s,  132,  233- 
Demosthenes,  184. 

Development  of  Christian  doctrine,  260. 
Devil,  m  the  New  Testament,  14 ;  in  the  story  of  the  temptation, 

105 ;  the  belief  of  Jesus  in,  no,  112 ;  Aryan  origin  of,  112. 
Diana  Dictynna,  133. 

Differentiation  of  Christianity  from  Paganism,  274. 
Diocletian,  252,  254,  277. 
Doctrines,  of  the  Sadducees,  18,  et  seg.;  of  the  Pharisees,  19,  etseq.; 

of  the  Essenes,  21 ;   of  Jesus,  106,  et  seg.;  of  Paul,  192,  et  seg.; 

of  the  Gnostics,  220;  of  the  Ebionites,  223 ;  of  the  early  Chns- 

tians,  260 ;  of  the  Circumcellions,  2S6. 
Dodwell  on  the  persecutions,  253. 
Domitian,  152,  237. 
Donatists,  284. 
Druids,  Religion  of  the,  62. 
Dualism,  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  77;  .of  Paul,  197,  199,  202,  227;   of 

the  Gnostics,  220;  of  the  Ebionites,  222. 
Dyafls-pitar,  65. 

Earlibst  references  to  the  four  Gospels,  87. 

Early  Christian  literature,  69. 

Early  Councils,  291. 

Ebionites,  72,  note ;  loi,  128,  147,  222-228. 

Ecclesia,  214,  and  note  ;  220. 

Edom,  17. 

Education  among  the  Jews,  34. 

Egypt,  under  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  52 ;  conquered  by  Alexander, 
53 ;  under  the  Ptolemies,  53 ;  the  religion  of,  67 ;  Jesus'  alleged 
journey  into,  100;  journey  of  ApoUomus  into,  151,  iss- 

Elagabalus,  251. 

Elders,  215. 

Eleusinian  mysteries,  43,  155,  168. 

Elijah,  153,  285. 

El  Mahdi,  232. 

Emanation,  23,  220,  227. 

Enoch,  153. 

Enoch,  The  Book  of,  67. 

Epictetus,  52,  278. 

Epicureans,  22<;. 

Epicurus,  256. 

Epiphanius,  on  the  Alogoi,  88 ;  on  the  Ebionites,  223,  227. 
-        Essenes,  doctrines  of,  20-22;  baptism  of,  21,  27,  207;  relation  of 
^s,         Jesus  to,  104,  126,  130;  asceticism  of^  223. 

'Eucharist,  a  Mithraic  ceremony,  45 ;  origin  of,  212-214;  a  ceremony 


INDEX  3^^ 

of  the  Ebionites,  223  ;  popular  misunderstanding  of,  257;  Justin 

Martyr  on,  262 ;  described  by  lren»us,  267. 
Euhemensm,  46. 
Euhemeros,  47,  48- 
Eunapius,  154. 
Euthydemus,  150. 

l™fprof:  Carroll  C,  on  the  new  morality,  138,  note. 

Ew^d,  on  the  Synoptical  Gospels.  74;  on  the  term     Son  of  God, 

287,  note. 
Extent  of  the  persecutions,  252. 
Ezra,  the  scribe,  19. 

Fatalism  of  the  Essenes,  21. 
Fausta,  28r. 
Faustina,  51. 
Felicitas,  251,  note. 

206, 287. 

Fria,  or  Fngga,  65. 

Froude,  James  Anthony,  on  Lucian,  iSS»  «<«'• 

Future  life,  21,  63,  65,  66,  no. 

Galerius,  253. 
Galilee,  24-26. 
Gamaliel,  126,  182. 
Gaulonitis,  Judah  of,  24,  25- 
Gaul  under  the  Romans,  6i. 
Gehenna,  no. 

Hfbbon.'  onT^'^iriod  of  the  "five  good  emperors,"  5.,  235;  - 
the  martyrs,  253,  270. 

pofed  ^eiatiTn  to  Simon'^Magus,  227;  contemporary  vnth  the 
catacombs,  2^9.  j^  .     indebtedness  to 

^"°St'  .T  220    t'o  Paul,  19 1 ;  °o  India,'22o ;  to.Mi.hracism,  46. 

22?Mhlir'^dewsahoutmkrtyrdom,24o;immoraht,esamo^g,257.- 
Goethe,  on  the  New  Testament  allegories   164. 
Golden   Rule,  taught  by  Confucius.  30,  ^^ote ,  by   tlUlel,    30,     y 

Jesus   132,  137;  Prof.  Newman  on,  137- 

"  Synoptical  Gospels,"  and  'Canon.   )  laneuage  of  the 

Greek,  t^e. offi^'t^'^f-^^r fhtl^^^^^^^^^^^^   IVj^sus^^Xxol".!;; 

&in';ir6l'd'T"esUment:  3I  note;  tie  language  of  the 

Gospels,  73. 
GroSk'i^uence  of  the  Church  at  Rome.  236. 


312  INDEX 

Growth  of  the  hierarchy,  217. 
Growth  of  the  Messianic  idea,  27. 
Growth  of  miraculous  legends,  161. 
Guizot,  on  the  Germans,  64. 

Hadrian,  a  Stoic,  50,  235 ;  his  attitude  toward  Christianity,  237-439, 

and  note. 
Hedge,  Rev.  Dr.  Frederic  H.,  on  Marcus  Aurehiis,  241,  243;  on 

the  aims  of  the  early  Church,  275 ;  on  Constantine,  283. 
Hegisippus,  85,  189,  190. 
Helena,  of  Simon  Magus,  225. 
Helena,  the  Empress,  283. 
Hellenism,  106,226,250. 
Herakles,  The  myth  of,  165. 
Hermas,  The  baptism  of,  277. 
Hermas,  The  Shepherd  of,  292. 
Herod,  17,  99,  100,  125. 
Herodians,  76. 

Hierocles  on  Apollonius,  134,  and  note. 
Hillel,  Rabbi,  29,  et  seq.  ;  67. 
Hippo,  Council  of,  293. 

Horos,  identified  with  lakchos,  44,  67;  birth  myth  of,  147. 
Hyrcanus,  John,  16,  17. 

Iakchos,  The  myth  of,  44.  67. 

Idumea,  17.  ,  .      ,      „     j 

Ignatius  of  Antioch,  Episfles  of,  83;  on  the  Lord's  day,  211;  on 
^        martyrdom,  240.^ 
immaculate  conception,  164.  j     ^  j 

Immersion,  a  rite  of  the  Essenes,  21 ;  a  Jewish  custom,  27 ;  adopted 

by  John  the  Baptist,  104;  the  earliest  form  of  Cliristian  baptism, 

207, 208,  and«<)j!«;  209, 210.  .     TN    -J     ^ 

Immortality,  taught  by  the  Essenes,  21;   by  the  Druids,  63;   not 

explicitly  taught  by  Jpus,  no. 
importations  from  Paganism,  66,  217. 
Incarnation,  44,  4?.  48,  49.  109.  '66,  167,  233,  260-262. 
India:  What  can  it  teach  us?  161,  note. 
Inquisition,  230,  253. 

Introduction,  9.  ^,      r-x.  •  .• 

Irenseus,  the  founder  of  the  canon,  87;  announces  the  Onnstian 

dogmas,  267 ;  his  character,  291 ;  his  canon,  292. 
Isis,  44,  67,  251. 
Izdubar,  The  myth  of,  165. 

Jacobs,  Joseph,  on  the  relation  of  Stoicism  to  Christianity,  250. 

James,  the  brother  of  Jesus,  71,  note  ;  90,  loi. 

Janus,  The  temple  of,  39. 

Jehovah.    (See  "  Yahweh.") 

Jerome,  71,  note. 

Jerusalem,  its  destruction  by  Titus,  27,  236. 

Jeshobeb,  Rabbi,  126. 

Jesus,  the  Judean  fanatic,  27. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  left  no  written  word,  69,;  sources  of  his  history, 
70;  his  birth  and  parentage,  99-102 ;  his  eariy  hie,  102;  rela- 
tions to  John  the  Baptist,  103;  his  temptation,  104,  160;  his 
doctrine  of  the  heavenly  Father,  107 ;  of  prayer,  107,  108 ;  his 
Unitarianism,  109;  his  doctrine  of  the  future  hfe,  109-112;  ot 


INDEX  313 

demoniacalinfluences,  112;  his  Messianic  beliefs,  113;  his  doc- 
trine of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  1 18-123;  his  parables,  122;  his 
doctrine  of  non-resistance,  123 ;  his  commuDism,  124;  his  ex- 
ahation  of  poverty,  125;  his  pessimism,  128,  159;  his  views  of 
mama^e,  120-131;  of  education  and  labor,  131;  of  slavery, 
131;  his  ethical  precepts,  132-134;  his  doctrine  of  forgiveness, 
134;  his  ethics  criticised,  135-138;  his  religion  as  related  to 
Judaism,  138-140;  his  historical  verity,  70,  140;  the  myth  and 
the  man,  2g6. 

Jewish  colony  in  Rome,  41.  * 

Jewish  conception  of  God,  106. 

Jewish  monasticism,  20. 

Job,  112,  159. 

John  Hyrcanus,  16,  17. 

John  of  Giscala,  26. 

John,  the  Apostle,  not  the  author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  77;  proba- 
bly wrote  the  Apocilypse,  84,  189;  his  alleged  martyrdom,  237. 

John  the  Baptist,  sketched  by  Josephus,  27;  his  relations  to 
Jesus,  103. 

Joseph,  the  father  of  Jesus,  loi. 

Josephus,  Flavius,  on  John  the  Baptist,  27,  91 ;  on  the  languages 
of  Palestine,  33 ;  on  Jewish  education,  34 ;  possibly  alludes  to 
Jesus,  90;  the  spurious  passage,  gi. 

Joshua,  285. 

Judjeo-Christianitj^,  222-228. 

Judah  of  Gaulonitis,  24,  25. 

Judaism,  Persian  influence  on,  14,  28;  Hillel  on,  30;  in  Egypt,  54; 
its  relation  to  Christianity,  13S-140;  its  intolerance,  255. 

Judas  MaccabJEus,  15. 

Judea,  Characteristics  of,  24,  23- 

Julia  Dorana,  148. 

Julian,  the  Emperor,  279,  and  note. 

Julius  Caesar,  protects  the  Jews,  16 ;  his  conquests,  41 ;  his  account 
of  the  Druids,  63. 

Jupiter,  65,  66. 

Justin  Martyr,  on  the  Gospels,  82,  84 ;  his  probable  ignorance  of  the 
Fourth  Gospel,  85,  note;  on  the  Sabbath,  211;  his  contests 
with  Marcion  and  Trj-pho,  247;  on  the  eucharist,  262;  on 
demoniacal  influences,  263  ;  his  death,  247. 

Kabala,  23. 

Kanaim,  23,  124. 

Kant,  112. 

Keeler  on  the  age  of  the  Gospels,  93. 

Keltic  communities,  61. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  171,  and  note. 

Kopts,  54. . 

Koran  on  nches,  127. 

Krishna,  100,  147,  298. 

Kronos,  The  myth  of,  47. 

Kuenen,  Prof.  A.,  on  Philo,  22,  note ;  on  the  Messianic  prophecy, 

loi,  note- 
Kuhn-Aten,  251. 

Lalita  Vistara,  161,  note. 

Lan^ages  of  Palestine,  33. 

Latin  version  of  the  New  Testament,  88. 


314  INDEX 

Lazarus,  75,  162,  and  note  ;  167. 

Legend  01  the  resurrection,  44,  176-181. 

Liberal  and  conservative  Pharisees,  29. 

Licinius,  281. 

Lightfoot,  Bishop,  on  Jewish  superstitions,  146. 

Lindsay,  Prof.,  on  immoralities  among  the  early  Christians,  256. 

Logia  of  Jesus,  73,  85. 

Logos,  in  Philo,  57,  58;  in  the  Fourth  Gospel,  76,  77,  88,  96,  166, 

167 ;  as  related  to  Paul,  194 ;  to  Gnosticism,  220 ;  to  the  Arian 

controversy,  2S7,  288. 
Lord's  day,  210-212. 
Lucan,  153,  and  note, 
Lucian,  155,  note. 
Lustration,  20S. 

^MaccabjEan  struggle  for  freedom,  15. 

Maccabasus,  Judas,  15. 

Masragenes,  148. 

Mahdi,  232. 

Mahomet,  184.    (See  also  "Mohammedanism.") 

Mammon,  128. 

Manu,  Institutes  of,  48. 

Manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament,  292,  293. 

Marcion,  his  Gospel,  73,  note ;  93,  292;  his  relation  to  Paul,  191, 
2ig;  his  contest  with  Justin  Martyr,  247;  his  canon,  291. 

Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  235;  his  relation  to  the  Christians,  241, 
244-249;  Dr.  Hedge  on,  241;  his  character  and  religion,  242- 
244;  Matthew  Arnold  on,  244;  Niebuhr  on,  244;  Renan  on, 
244,  24S;  Watson  on,  247,  249;  his  pure  religion,  263  ;  motives 
of  his  attitude  toward  Christianity,  279. 

Martyr  Period,  235. 

Martyrdom  of  Stephen,  185. 

Martyrs,  The  earliest,  236;  Flavins  Clemens,  237;  Pliny's  relation 
10,238;  Ignatius,  240;  the  relation  of  Marcus  Aurelius  to,  244- 
249;  Polvcarp,  245 ;  Blandina,  246,  248 ;  at  Lyons  and  Vienne, 
246;  under  Diocletian  and  Decius,  251;  total  number  of,  253. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,  loi. 

Maturus,  the  martyr,  246. 

Maxentius,  279. 

Maximin,  279. 

Maximus  of  JE%x,  148. 

Memoirs  of  the  Apostles,  84,  120. 

Memra,  23,  67. 

Messiah,  Judah  of  Gaulonitis  as,  24;  Jewish  belief  in,  28,  106;  the 
First  Gospel  on,  95;  Jesus  as,  114,  174;  forgives  sin,  135;  doc- 
trine of,  assures  hi=;torical  verity  of  Jesus,  298. 

Messianic  idea,  Growth  of,  27;  the  Persian,  28,  66;  relation  of 
Jesus  to,  113  ;  a  beautiful  dream,  n6.     (See  also  "  Messiah.") 

Milman,  Dean,  on  early  Christianity,  185;  on  Trajan  and  Hadrian, 
239,  and  note  ;  on  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  240;  on  Marcus  Aure- 
lius, 244 ;  on  Polycarp,  245 ;  on  the  persecutions,  252  ;  on  Chris- 
tianitjr  and  civilization,  285 ;  on  the  early  councils,  294.  _ 

Miracles,  in  the  gospel  stories,  144:  in  the  story  of  Apollonius,  152, 
156-158;  of  cure,  145;  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  165-170;  grovrth 
of  miraculous  legends,  161. 

Mithra,  or  Mithras,  45,  168,  262,  282. 

Mithracism,  45,  262. 


INDEX  315 

Mohammedanism,  21,  295,  296,  note. 

Monasticism  of  the  Essenes,  20. 

Montanism,  236,  245,  258-260. 

Moses,  19,  24,  100,  285. 

Motley  on  the  persecutions  in  the  Netherlands,  253. 

Mozoomdar,  Protap  Chunder,  on  education,  35 ;  on  the  Oriental 

Christ,  171;  his  attitude  in  prayer,  272,  «<7/^. 
Miiller,  Prof.  Max,  on  the  relations  of  Christianity  to  Buddhism, 

161,  and  note. 
Mysticism,  of  the  Kabala,  22  ;    of  the  Eleusinian  cultus,  44 ;    of 

Philo,  56,  57  ;  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  75,  298;  of  Paul,  194, 199; 

of  Gnosticism,  220-222 ;   of  the  Neo-Platonists,  287 ;   freedom 

of  Stoicism  from,  51 ;  freedom  of  Jesus  from,  134,  171,  222. 
Myth  and  Miracle  in  the  Gospel  Stories,  144. 
Mythical  element  as  related  to  the  progress  of  Christianity,  299. 

Natural  evolution  of  Christianity,  293. 

Nature  worship  of  the  Teutons,  64. 

Nazarenes,  loi,  190,  211. 

Nazarites,  130,  151. 

Neo-Platonism,  doctrines  of,  56;  of  the  Fourth  Gospel,  169;  its 
influence  on  Christianity,  249,  250 ;  as  related  to  the  Logos  doc- 
trine, 287 ;  to  Paul,  299. 

Nero,  opposes  Stoicism,  51 ;  persecutes  the  Christians,  192,  228-330, 
236,  237,  257;  identified  with  Antichrist,  231,  232. 

Nerva,  50,  235,  248. 

Newman,  Prof.  Francis  W.,  on  the  ethics  of  Jesus,  137. 

Newton,  Rev.  Dr.  R.  Heber,  on  the  early  Christian  commuidsm, 
276,  note  ;  on  the  religious  aspect  of  socialism,  300,  note. 

Nicsea,  Council  of,  289,  294. 

Niebuhr,  on  Marcus  Aurelius,  244 ;  on  the  persecutions,  353. 

Nirvdna,  110,  117. 

Odin,  65. 

Oldenburg,  Prof.,  on  the  Lalita  Visiara,  161,  note. 

Onesimus,  132,  201. 

Onkelos,  Targum  of,  23,  Ttote. 

Optatus,  285. 

Oral  law,  33. 

Orcus,  230. 

Oriental  Christ,  170. 

Oriental  Church,  217,  284,  and  «o/tf. 

Oriental  influences,  on  Essenism,  22;  in  the  Roman  Empire,  45 ; 
in  connection  with  Paul's  doctrines,  197 ;  in  relation  to  Chris- 
tianity, 219-222. 

Origen,  refers  to  ApoUonius,  148 ;  on  the  number  of  the  martyrs, 
249 ;  on  salvation  by  blood,  261 ;  on  future  punishment,  268. 

Origin  of  the  priesthood,  214-217. 

Ormuzd,  77.    (See  also  "  Ahura-Mazda.") 

Orpheus,  251,  272. 

Osiris,  251, 282, 29S.  ...  T,    nf 

Oswald,  Dr.  Felix,  on  the  relation  of  Christianity  to  Buddhism,  141, 
note  ;  159-161,  and  notes. 

Palestine  in  the  Roman  Period,  13. 

Papias,  in  relation  to  the  gospel  canon,  81,  84,  85,  86;  his  quota- 
tion from  the  Memoirs  of  the  Apostles,  120;  does  not  menUon 
Paul,  190. 


316  INDEX 

Parables,  75,  and  note  ;  122. 

Parthian  revolt,  17. 

Parties  in  the  early  Church,  188-191. 

Pasht,  55. 

Patristic  literature,  70,  235,  256;  on  early  beliefs,  267. 

Paul,  the  earliest  writer  in  the  New  Testament,  69,  70 ;  reports  no 
miracles  of  Jesus,  163;  the  Christianity  of,  174;  Epistles  of,  69, 
163,  175,  and  note;  his  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  181;  his 
early  life,  182;  his  advocacy  of  Judaism,  184;  his  conversion, 
185;  his  missionary  labors,  187;  his  relation  to  the  Apostles, 
187-1Q1 ;  conclusion  of  his  labors,  191 ;  his  doctrines,  192-200; 
his  ethics,  197;  his  dualism,  197,  199,202;  the  type  of  Protest- 
antism, 200;  his  universalism,  202,  242,299-301;  described  as 
Simon  Magus,  225-228 ;  his  death,  192  ;  has  teaching  misinter- 
preted,  256. 

Pelasgic  origin  of  the  Virgin  and  child,  44. 

Pentecost,  121,  note. 

Perpetua,  Vivia,  251,  note. 

Persephone,  44,  67. 

Persia,  her  gilts  to  Israel,  14,  22;  her  angelology,  224. 

Persian  origin  of  Jewish  beliefs,  22. 

Peshito,  88. 

Pessimism  of  Jesus,  128,  159. 

Peter,  66,  81,  95,  228,  236,  276,  note. 

Pharisees,  their  origin,  19;  their  observances,  19;  denounced  by 
John  the  Baptist,  104;  relation  of  Jesus  to,  130;  denounced  by 
Jesus,  133;  rebuked  for  "  seeking  a  sign,"  146,  note. 

Philo  Judsus,  56;  on  the  Therapeutas,  22,  note ;  his  dualism,  57; 
his  Logos  doctrine,  58,  28S;  his  relation  to  Justin  Martyr,  85, 
note;  his  use  of  the  term  "Son  of  God,"  94,  note;  his  rela- 
tion to  the  Fourth  Gospel,  169;  object  of  his  philosophy,  205. 

Philostratus,  14S-150,  ic,i,note;  158. 

Phoenicia,  59,  60,  and  notes. 

Plato,  influence  of  his  philosophy  on  Christian  doctrine,  42,  158; 
his  relation  to  Philo,  56,  57;  his  influence  on  Paul,  183;  his 
doctrine  of  complex  marriage,  257. 

Pleroma,  221. 

Pliny  the  Younger,  on  the  Christians,  91;  in  relation  to  the  perse- 
cutions, 238,  239. 

Pluto,  230. 

Polycarp,  Epistle  of,  83  ;  his  alleged  allusion  to  Paul,  190,  and 
note  ;  his  martyrdom,  241,  245. 

Pompey  the  Great,  16,  40,  41,  42. 

Pontifex  Maximus,  217,  218,  281. 

Pothinus,  the  martyr,  246. 

Prayer,  Jesus'  doctrine  of,  107,  108;  Oriental  conception  of,  271, 
272,  and  note. 

Priesthood,  the  origin  of,  214-217. 

Prophecy,  revival  of,  26. 

Proselytes  to  Judaism,  184. 

Pythagoras,  149,  151,  aadnote;  158. 

Religion  of  the  future,  301. 

Religion  under  the  Roman  Empire,  42. 

Renan,  Ernest,  on  the  four  Gospels,  72 ;  on  the  age  of  the  Gospels, 
93;  on  miracles,  146;  on  the  resurrection,  179;  on  Nero,  229, 
230,  231,  232 ;  on  Marcus  Aurelius,  242,  244,  248. 


INDEX 


817 


Resurrection,  of  lakchos,  44 !  of  Jesus,  70.  176-181 ;  of  Lazarus,  7S. 

162,  and  note  ;  Paul's  dootnne  of,  181. 
Revival  of  Paganism,  48. 

Rh;s'DrviJI.°p'r:?','on-the  La:i^.  Vistara,.^^,  n.te. 

Ritter,   Dr    Heinrich,  on    ApoUonius   of   Tyana,    148,    i49.   'S», 

Chrfstiantr;.  50;   its  attitude  toward  Chnstianity.  235-260;  its 

relation  to  the  Catholic  Church,  290,  301. 

Roman  tolerance,  42,  254- 

Rosicrucians,  45-  ..        .  „      ncrnecutes  the  Tews, 

Russia,  Current  supersUtions  in,  48,  257,  284,  persecutes  me  jcwa. 


254- 
Rusticus,  247. 

Sabbath,  211,  2S2. 

Baptist,  104. 
Sadoq,  19,  note. 
Sakya-Muni,  22. 
Samson,  The  myth  of,  165. 
Sanctus,  the  martyr,  246. 

Sargon,  100.       .         ^i,,,--.^,     i^     112-  his  relation  to  Ahriman, 
^^*^°I.t  °Set''"5l,'S1n"lhe*Fourth   Gospel,   77;  in  the  story 

ot'the    tem^t'ation,     .05;     identified    .-''?/S„Vtne  'of  th^ 

renounced  by  Christian  converts,  209;  in  the  doctrmes 

Ebionites,  222. 
Saturnalia,  46,  99-    „. 
Saul.    (See  "Paul.") 

iSasTbV'philip,  on  the  early  Christians,  257;  on  the  early  coun- 

oils,  294- 
IXs,''no?a  separate  sect,   .9;    not  mentioned  in  the  Fourth 

Gospel,  76;  denounced  by  Jesus,  133- 
Sects  in  Palestine,  17. 
Seleucids,  17-  ,       .  ,_,  „., 

Sen,  Keshub  Chunder,  171,  vaAnote. 

Septuagint,  55,  9^- 
Set,  orSeth,  53,  "2- 
Severus,  Alexander,  iS4i  251- 
Sevems,  Septimius,  148,251,  note. 
Shamas,  165. 
Sharamai,  Rabbi,  30-32- 
Shammaya,  Rabbi,  29. 
Siddartha,  160. 

Sidon,  60.  .  ,       , 

Sidonius  Apollinans,  154.  and  nott. 

Simon  Magus,  224-228.  .  „   ,„.  „r.inions  on  —  of  the  Fathers, 

^^^TC^^W-t  f3Tof'^a;i.r.rrelation  of  Christianity 
to,  246,  277,  and  nott. 


318  INDEX 

Smith,  Prof.  Robertson,  on  the  Gospels,  73. 

Social  Aspects  of  the  Religion  of  Jhsus,  118. 

Society  and  Religion  in  thb  Roman  Empirb,  39. 

Sokrates,  43. 

Solar  mythology,  147,  i6i,  166,  167-170,  282,  298. 

Son  of  God,  in  Philo's  writings,  57,  58,  94,  note  ;  not  in  the  Teach- 
ing of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  72,  note  ;  in  the  Second  Gospel,  92, 
94 ;  as  applied  to  Jesus,  109,  1 14,  147,  note ;  as  used  by  Paul, 
198;  identified  with  the  Logos,  57,  287;  Ewald,  on  the  term, 
287,  note ;  in  the  Athanasian  Creed,  289. 

Son  of  Man,  in  Daniel,  67;  as  applied  to  Jesus,  68,  76,  140;  a  title 
of  the  Messiah,  135. 

Sons  of  God,  in  Philo,  58;  in  Job,  112;  in  the  New  Testament, 
122,  123. 

Sosiosch,  28. 

Sources  of  Information,  6g. 

Spain  under  the  Romans,  bi. 

Spartacus,  40. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  on  ethics,  112,  138,  note  ;  343. 

Spinoza,  242. 

Spiritual  symbolism,  170. 

Stanley,  Dean,  on  baptism,  209,  note;  on  clerical  orders,  214,  215, 
endnote;  216;  on  pagan  customs,  2iS,andnote;  on  the  cata- 
combs, 270,  and  note;  on  Mohammedanism,  296,  note, 

Stephen's  martyrdom,  185. 

Stoic  philosophy,  of  Semitic  origin,  50,  and  note ;  250;  teaches  the 
rights  of  man,  51;  encourages  public  charities,  51;  a  prepara- 
tion for  Christianity,  249-251. 

Stoics,  The  reign  of  the,  52,  note. 

Suetonius,  91. 

Sulla,  39. 

Synagogue,  19,  S3.  34.  '»*'*;  35.  54.  xo2,  297 ;  the  prototype  of  the 
Church,  214,  215. 

Synoptical  Gospels,  37,  74,  et  stq.  ;  91,  98,  121,  144,  145.  '57.  160, 
164,  170,  171,  180,  194,  19s,  297. 

Syria  conquered  by  Pompey,  39. 

Syriac  Version  of  the  New  Testament,  88. 

Syro-Chaldaic  language,  33,  103,  224. 

Taotus,  91,  and  note  ;  233. 

Talmud,  compiled  from  the  oral  law,  33  ;  on  education,  34 ;  parables 

m,  75,  note;  on  riches,  126,  127,  and  notes. 
Targum  of  Onkelos,  23,  note. 
Targums,  23,  note. 
Taurobolium,  260. 

Taylor,  Father,  on  the  goodness  of  Jesus,  142. 
Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  30,  note ;  70,  note;  72,  note;  83, 

89,  208,  note. 
Tertullian,  on  Mithracism,  45 ;  on  the  gospel  canon,  88,  291,  292 ; 

on  Marcus  Aurelius,  248;  on  unpardonable  sins,  259;  Matthew 

Arnold  on,  273  ;  Prof.  Davidson  on,  291. 
Teutonic  peoples.  The  religion  of,  63. 
Theological  Aspects  of  the  Religion  of  Jbsus,  98. 
Therapeutae,  22,  and  note. 
Theudas,  26. 
Thor,  65. 
Thorah,  19,  23,  138. 


INDEX  319 

Tiberius,  219.  .     „  „,       , 

Tiele,  Prof.  C.  P.,  on  Nero,  229;  on  the  Roman  Church,  $01. 

Titus,  27,  219,  236. 

Tiu,  65. 

Torquemada,  253. 

Toy,  Prof.  Crawford  H.,  on  the  Targums,  23,  note;  on  quota- 
tions in  the  New  Testament,  36.  _ 

Trajan,  a  Stoic,  50,  235;  his  attitude  toward  the  Christians,  237-239, 
and  note;  founds  public  charities,  51,  248;  incident  in  his  reign, 
277. 

Tredwell,  Daniel  M.,  on  Apollonius  of  Tyana,  150,  note. 

Triple  Tradition,  37,  78,  98,  102,  144,  iS7)  'S9i  '&'.  '70i  '7'!  297.  298. 

Trypho,  247,  262. 

Tyche,  282. 

Tyre,  60. 

Unitarianism  of  Jesus,  109. 

Universalism,  Pau'/s  doctrine  of,  92,  202,  211,  237.  242. 264,  agg,  300. 

Uzziel,  Rabbi  Jonathan  ben,  67. 

Vatican,  66. 

Vedas,  266. 

Vishnu,  100. 

Vivia  Perpetua,  251,  note. 

Waite,  on  the  age  of  the  Gospels,  93. 

Walhalla,  65. 

Watson,  Paul  Barron,  on  Marcus  Aurelius,  244.  247.  249- 

Yahwhh,  14,  15,  and  note;  20,  28,  37,  106,  107,  n2,  ii4>  "9;  be- 
comes  the  Gnostic  demiourgos,  221. 

Zaccheus,  271. 

Zadok,  1 9,  note. 

Zealots,  their  doctrines,  23 ;  Jesus  not  one,  124. 

Zeller,  Dr.  E.,  on  Stoicism,  50,  note  ;  250. 

Zeno,  the  Stoic,  50.  „    ,  .,  ^        » 

Zeus,  identified  mth  Tiu,  65 ;  Nero  called  "Zeus,    229. 

Zoroaster,  his  religion  a  monotheism,  66 ;  left  no  wntten  word,  69. 

Zoroastrian  influence  on  Judaism,  22  ;  on  the  Egyptian  religion,  53 ; 

on  Gnosticism,  220.  .  .,.,.•  ^        .,    . 

\  Zoroastrianism,  its  dualism,  57;  its  ceremonial  ablutions,  206,  note, 

its  sacrificial  rites,  208,  note  ;  its  priestly  ongin,  367. 


COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 

fl  This  book  is  due  on  "the  date  indicated  below,  or  at  the 

expiration  of  a  definite  period  after  the  date  of  borrowing,  as  i  n^ 
provided  by  the  library  rules  or  by  special  arrangement  with 
the  Librarian  in  charge. 


DATE  BORROWED 


wi 


C2B  (1149)  100M 


DATE  DUE 


DATE  BORROWED 


DATE  DUE 


Jr-i/ll\r:S 


\il/ 


L 


031502457 


931 


J234 


BRITTLE  DO  NOT 
PHOTOCOPY 


